


Mutants And Heroes

by AdamGrayson



Series: Mutants And Heroes Universe [1]
Category: Glee, Marvel, Victorious
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-07-17
Packaged: 2018-02-09 06:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1971780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdamGrayson/pseuds/AdamGrayson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jade West loses everything having no where else to go. Tori Vega almost loses herself because of her parents. They end up meeting and nothing is the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mutants On The Run

A person's seventeenth birthday is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Most teenagers at this age are getting ready for college, preparing for adulthood. However Jade West's seventeenth birthday would change her life forever.

"Jade! It's your birthday! You should party!" A blonde girl said, as she walked next to Jade and a brunette girl.

Jade was walking between the two girls she very loosely called her friends. The blonde was a girl named Lela and she was the very definition of a party girl. If alcohol wasn't involved she would not come to your party. She would always get upset with Jade when they drank together because Jade never got drunk. Not once has anyone seen a drunk Jade.

The brunette was more of a friend than Lela was. Rachel was Jade's cousin and she was determined to be on Broadway one day. She didn't lack confidence and was really the closest friend Jade had. Jade would protect her younger cousin from the bullies at school as often as she could.

"You know I don't like parties, Lela." Jade said.

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

Rachel sighed slightly, "You really do not know how to take No for an answer do you, Lela?"

"Not when it's a chance for me to get booze." Lela laughed heartily.

"Well, I'm not doing that. I just want to stay at home and relax." Jade said.

"You do that every day." Rachel pointed out. "Hey, why don't we go see that You're Next movie tonight?"

Jade raised an eyebrow at her cousin, "But you hate horror movies."

"Yeah, but I will do anything to make my favorite cousin have a nice birthday." Rachel smiled at the girl for a moment before reaching to run a finger over the dyed strand of blue hair in Jade's locks. "Maybe we should freshen up your highlights too. My treat."

"You really are the best cousin." Jade grinned, revealing her lengthened canines.

"I know."

Lela made a gagging noise as she tilted her head and proceeded to mime throwing up. "You guys sicken me. You're not going to be any fun today. I'm going to Kyle's." And with that Lela turned around and started walking the way they just came from.

"Why do we hang out with her?" Jade asked.

"We don't. She just doesn't know how to take a hint."

Jade chuckled and the two walked up to the steps leading up to Jade's house. They walked inside and went into the kitchen. Rachel grabbed two sodas from the refrigerator and gave one to Jade. As they sat at the kitchen table Rachel asked, "How's your claw?"

Jade has a secret that no one knows about, except for Rachel. She is a mutant, just like the X-Men you see on the news reports. Jade was one of the rare mutants that had more than one power: one being the three claws in each of her hands, between her knuckles. They were made of bone, but they were very dense and incredibly sharp. Her second power is a healing factor. Any injury she could receive is quickly mended. She hasn't had to go to the doctor for a broken bone or sprained muscle since she was little. However, the day before Jade did believe she had broken one of her claws. It was the worst pain she had ever felt. The combination of her abnormally dense bones and healing factor also granted Jade enhanced agility, reflexes, strength, and stamina.

"It's not broken apparently. It feels fine now. I think it got scratched or a little sprained or something."

Rachel smiled at her before taking a sip of the soda. "That is very good. You had me worried yesterday the way you were carrying on."

"Sorry." Jade said.

The front door opened and closed, signaling the arrival of Jade's mother, Prudence West. She walked into the kitchen and gave the girls a tired smile. "Hey girls."

"Hi, Aunt Prue."

"Hey, Mom. How was work?"

Prue sat across from her daughter and sighed softly, "I'm still not used to watching little kids anymore."

Rachel tilted her head curiously, "Why do you work at the Daycare Center anyway, Aunt Prue? You have all that money hidden away."

"It's a nice way to pass the time. Besides, I'm not rich Rachel. It won't last forever."

"But it's been building for seventeen years."

"Speaking of seventeen years… Jade, happy birthday."

"Thanks, mom. Just, can you not sing me that song again? Please."

"I've never understood why you never like people singing Happy Birthday to you." Prue said.

"Jade's an odd one." Rachel grinned teasingly at the older girl.

Jade rolled her eyes but otherwise let the comment slide.

Prue shifted to look at her niece. "Rachel, I need to talk to Jade. I don't mean to be rude but can we have some privacy? This is a rather personal matter. You can come back later."

Rachel frowned confused, "Um, okay. I'll tell my dads to wait awhile before they come over. Bye, Jade. Happy birthday. I hope you like the present."

Jade touched the necklace around her neck. It was a simple silver chain with a silver wolf pendant hanging from it. The pendant had an engraving on the back that read: For my favorite cousin. I love you Jay. -Rae. "I already told you I like it, Rae. See you later."

As the front door shut Jade looked at her mom, "Am I in trouble?"

"No sweetie, I just...need to tell you some things."

"What's wrong?"

"I know that you're a mutant."

Jade's eyes went wide, "I-I…"

Prue put a hand over her daughter's, "Sweetie, it's okay. Calm down."

"I'm sorry if I let you down."

"You didn't let me down. I've always known that you're a mutant."

"Wait...you always knew? But my powers didn't show until puberty."

Prue sighed softly, "This is going to be a little hard to believe Jade, but I promise it's true and I still love you."

"Mom?"

"About twenty years ago I worked for a company and they...they weren't the best people."

"What do you mean?"

"What they were and who they were aren't important right now. See, I...oh God this is harder than I expected it to be. They were trying to clone Weapon-X, who you probably know better as Wolverine from the X-Men, and I wanted a child so I volunteered to carry the baby. Once it took, I lied to them. I said it was unsuccessful and not long after I quit. I left the state and came here…. then had you."

"Wait…so, you're trying to tell me I'm a clone?"

"Yes."

Jade stood up and shook her head, running a hand through her hair. Prue watched her daughter with a frown, "I know this is a shock and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I just wanted to make sure you could understand."

"That's why you wouldn't tell me who my father is? Because I don't have one?"

"I suppose you could say that in a way Wolverine is your father."

"I'm a clone of Wolverine? That's it? I'm not my own person?"

Prue stood and went to her daughter, "Of course you are, sweetheart. You're not just a clone. You're a human being. You're my daughter."

"So, Rachel isn't really my cousin."

"She is. You are my blood daughter sweetie. The whole process is very hard to explain."

Jade sighed and leaned against the fridge, trying to get her whole world straightened out. Prue reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags. "I made these for you when I found out you were actually going to be born. I know you see this as a bad thing, but without them I wouldn't have you. In a weird way I'm thankful." She held the tags out for Jade to read. On the top line was Jade's full name, below that was X-13.

"X-13? What's' that?"

"You were the thirteenth attempt to successfully clone Wolverine."

Jade growled, "And you thought this would make me happy? Just shoving it in my face that I'm not real!?"

"Jade, calm down, please. I know you're upset-"

"You're damn right I'm upset! You can't tell someone something like that and expect them to be happy!"

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me! I know your upset but I'm still your mother!"

Jade crossed her arms, "What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to-" the window shattered suddenly, interrupting Prue as she covered her face. She looked down to see a brick with a piece of paper attached to it.

"We know what she is!" Jade read aloud. "What does that mean? And who the hell did that?"

"We need to leave. Now."

"What're you talking about?"

"Don't argue, Jade. Let's go!" Prue grabbed Jade's hand and started pulling her towards the backdoor.

"Mom! What's going on?"

But before Prue could say anything further, several angry slurs and shouts could be faintly heard over the bustling drone of rage boiling outside, and in that moment Jade knew that the thing every young mutant fears has finally arrived… a mindless, violent anti-mutant mob.

"What about Rachel?" Jade forced her mother to stop just short of the backdoor.

Prue turned around to look at her daughter, "She'll be fine. They're after us, not her."

"But we should-" Jade was interrupted as a huge explosion threw her to the ground. She was thrown to the ground and her head bounced off the floor. Disoriented she sat up, faintly able to see the house on fire, part of the wall was on the floor and her mother was on the floor. "Mom?" Another explosion hit and she looked up to see the ceiling falling straight towards her.

Blue-green eyes slowly opened as Jade regained consciousness. She felt a weight on her chest and after a moment realized part of the ceiling had fallen on her. With a grunt she managed to push the weight off of her and sat up. She could feel blood on her face and clothes, but her healing factor had healed the wounds. Looking around she saw the house was in ruins.

"Mom?" Not getting an answer she got worried. "Mom!?!" Her eyes scanned the area and spotted an arm under the backdoor. "Oh no." She dropped beside the door and lifted it up. Underneath was her mother, blood surrounding her coming from a deep wound in her head. "Oh, no no no. Mom? Mom, wake up."

She put her hand on her mother's shoulder and Prue's eyes fluttered open. "J-Jade?" Her voice was weak.

"Oh, thank God. I need to get you to the hospital."

"No...Jade. It's too late."

Jade's eyes widened slightly, "What?"

"I'm losing too much blood sweetie...they won't get here in time."

She shook her head as her eyes filled with tears, "No! You-you'll be fine. It'll be okay."

"Jade, you…you need to go." She spoke as firmly as she could as the flames encroaching upon them grew more intense.

"I'm so sorry. I love you, Mom."

"I love you too sweetheart." Prue exhaled one final time and her head fell to the side.

Tears fell down the young girl's cheeks as she leaned down and pressed her lips lightly to her mother's forehead, lightly dragging her fingers down her face to close her eyes. For countless minutes Jade sat with her mother as the flames began to consume their home around them, the tears not slowing until she had no more tears left to shed. Jade wiped her eyes on her arm and noticed something. In her mother's hand were the dog tags. Gently she took the tags and slipped them around her neck, the tags stopping just short of the wolf pendant. Sirens were approaching from the distance and it was then Jade made a choice. She stood up and ran from the house, away from the life she'd known for seventeen years, away from her dead mother.

 

* * *

 

 

On the other side of town Tori Vega sat with her family at the table eating dinner. To her right was her older sister Trina, her mother Holly to the left and her father, David, right across from her. They were talking and laughing and if you were to look in and see them you would think that they were a normal family. But you'd be wrong...

David Vega is the lieutenant in the Hollywood Police Department homicide division. On his downtime he is one of the city's most recognized Mutant Haters, along with his wife. They believe mutants are an abomination to the world and should be eradicated. If one of their daughters were a mutant it would be a disgrace to them. Luckily for them Trina Vega was not a mutant.

Tori, on the other hand, is a mutant with an extraordinary power. She is able to completely copy another mutants power just by watching them. There is a limit to how many powers she can actively copy and use at any time, there's also the chance that she cannot learn the power or it would override one of her other "stored" powers. At the moment she is unable to actively learn powers by command, only subconsciously, meaning the powers she gains are sheer luck. Currently she has three powers stored.

"So, Tori, how was school today?" Holly asked.

"It was fine. Nothing special happened." Tori responded, taking a minute away from her food.

David shook his head, "That's not true. One of the students was caught using 'powers'."

Holly gasped, "Oh, my. Who?"

"A boy named Ryder Daniels. Such a disgrace."

"Didn't he date Tori for a while?" Trina asked.

"He did."

"Are mutants really that bad, Dad?" Tori asked hesitantly.

"Yes, they are."

"But do you even know any?"

"Why would I want to know any mutants?"

Tori sighed and shook her head. Ever since she discovered her powers at fourteen she had been wary of how her parents would react. She knew it wouldn't be good, but at least Trina was on her side. Trina had walked in on her one day when she was getting a feel for her newest power at the time, flight.

"I'm trying to get the government to bring back the Sentinels." David announced.

"The Sentinels?! Dad that's crazy!" Tori cried.

David sat back and looked at her, "Crazy to get rid of mutants? Sentinels will go right after them. They'd be gone in no time."

"Tori, relax." Trina urged, seeing Tori was reaching a boiling point that had been building for years.

Tori took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Can I be excused?"

Holly looked at her slightly concerned, "Are you all right sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hold on, Tori. I want to know why you care about mutants so much." David said, holding a hand up. "Is it because you still like that Daniels boy?"

"Eww. No way. He used me to get a good grade. I hate him." Tori crossed her arms.

"Then why-"

"I just don't share your opinions Dad."

"What so you approve of those things?"

"David, calm down." Holly said, patting his arm.

Tori stood up, "As a matter of fact I do. You can't change how you're born. It's not like they chose to be mutants. They just are."

"They don't have to be." David said.

"What do you mean?" Trina looked at him.

"Well, there is a cure. It removes a mutant's powers and makes them normal. It's not public knowledge right now but it'll be a voluntary process. I think they need to force them to take it but they won't listen to me."

"A cure? No one would want that!"

Trina frowned a bit, "Actually, Tori, not every mutant is happy with their powers."

"As they shouldn't be." Holly commented.

"God, I can't take it anymore." Tori knocked over her chair as she spun around to walk across the room. "Mom, Dad-"

"Tori!" Trina tried to interrupt.

"-I'm a mutant okay!?" Tori finished, flinging her arms out.

David gave her a stern look, "That's not funny, Tori."

"Your father's right honey. Never joke about being a mutant."

"It's not a joke!" Tori took a couple of steps away from the table and within seconds she was floating in the air.

"My God."

"I'm happy with who I am! There is nothing wrong with being a mutant!" Tori snapped.

"David, what do we do?" Holly asked.

"We'll take her to get the cure." David announced, as if it were the final word.

Tori stared at him, "Are you serious? Dad, I'm not getting that stupid cure."

"You're under eighteen and we're your parents. You have to do what we tell you."

"Screw that!"

Holly gasped, "Tori, do not take that tone of voice to your father."

"I don't care who you are. I'm not changing who I am just to please you."

David stood up, the chair falling to the floor. "You're taking the cure and that's final!"

Tori glared at him, "I hate you." She made a break for the front door but her father caught her ankle and attempted to pull her down. Very quickly she realized she couldn't break free with sheer strength alone and the ceiling was not high enough for her to truly fly. Her instincts kicked in and a spurt of fire flew from her palm aimed directly at her father. Shocked David released her ankle and quickly scrambled out of the way, he got away uninjured but his hair was not so lucky.

Tori looked at the rest of her family to see her sister staring at her in shock. She looked at her mother and all she saw in Holly's eyes was sheer terror. The young mutant panicked and turned her hand to the window, blasting it with ice. The window frame and window froze. Tori flew through the brittle window, immediately flying up into the night sky.


	2. An Alliance

 

Roughly about an hour after she first took flight Tori finally landed on the ground again. She was slightly fatigued but had finally found an abandoned house. At least it looked abandoned on the outside, and quite the unattractive building. The paint was fading, someone had spray painted some very vulgar graffiti on the side of the house, and a few of the windows were either broken completely or cracked. It was the perfect hiding spot for a runaway like her. She just hoped there was no one else in it.

She didn’t really have a full length plan for what she was going to do. Tori hoped she could stay as long as she needed to, but she wasn’t sure what else she could do. She couldn't go back home that was to obvious. Her father would try to stick the cure in her and there's no way she could let that happen.

 

* * *

 

The Latina opened the door of the house and quickly stepped inside, quietly shutting the door behind her. It was a one story building with the front door leading into the hallway with two doors leading to different rooms, thankfully the light from the street lights could come in from the windows. The end of the hallway seemed to lead to the kitchen.

Tori peeked around the corner of the right door and saw no one in the room. It was a living room, but it was in horrible shape. The T.V. screen had a hole in it and the couch had matching holes on each seat. The lone chair in the room (and only other furniture in the room) oddly was void of holes, but it was very dusty.

Tori turned around to check the other room and found herself face to face with a set of blue-green eyes. She let out a shriek of surprise and fell back against the wall.

"Who are you?" The girl asked. "What do you want?" "I-I just wanted place to hide." Tori said. "I don't have anywhere else to go."

"What do you mean? I swear to God if you lead that mob here I'll-"

"What? What mob? I had to get away from my parents! They wanted to give me a mutant cure!" The green eyes went wide and she took a step back. "Wait...you're a mutant?"

"Yes." "Prove it." Tori raised an eyebrow at her but held out her hand and created a ball of fire in her palm. The extra light let her see the girl better. She was a very attractive girl with black hair and stray strand of blue. The area around her eyes were red and slightly puffy, making Tori wonder if she had been crying. She was dressed in black shirt and jeans. Tori also noted she had two necklaces on: a dog tag and wolf pendant.

"My power is...kind of complicated really." She closed her fist and extinguished the flame. "What about you? Are you a mutant?"

"Yes. But this I don't think this place is big enough for us both."

"What? That's a bunch of crap. I don't feel like doing this right now. You can sleep where ever the bedroom is and I'll just take the couch."

"Fine."

"I'm Tori Vega." "I said you could stay here not that we'd be friends."

Tori sighed and shook her head, giving up and walking to the couch. As she laid on the couch trying to sleep she heard the girl say, "You can call me Jade." Retreating footsteps told her the girl was gone.

 

 

The next day Tori woke up with a crick in her back and neck and well everywhere. She sat up just as Jade walked into the room. The Goth dropped a McDonalds bag onto her lap before sitting in the chair and sipping from her large cup. Tori looked at the bag then Jade, then peered into the bag finding a breakfast burrito.

She looked up at the girl, "What's this?"

"A peace offering."

"Thanks." Tori said, immediately pulling the burrito out and starting to eat.

Jade watched her for a moment before she looked down at her dog tag. "Where'd you get those?" Her eyes went to the brown eyed Latina who questioned her. She didn't really want to talk about it, but something told her that Tori wasn't the type of person to just give up on something she wanted to hear about.

"My family."

"Your parents?"

"My...um...mom gave me the dog tag." Tori nodded, "And your Dad gave you the wolf?" "I don't have a Dad." Jade snapped. When Tori flinched she sighed, "My cousin gave it to me for my birthday yesterday."

"It was your birthday yesterday?" "It wasn't a very good one." Tori swallowed the food before speaking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. What's the point? It won't help anything."

"Might make you feel better." Jade scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Talking won't help."

"So…" Tori started slowly, not wanting to upset the girl more. "what's your mutant power?"

"You explain yours I'll explain mine."

"Well the way I see it I can copy mutant powers just by seeing them in action. But it seems to be selective and I have no control over it."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"How do you get that?"

"Well my powers activated three years ago. My friend Serafina discovered she was a mutant who could fly. She was showing off to my little group of friends and the next thing I know I'm in the air with her. At the time I just thought I could fly too, but about a year after that I encountered a set of twins: Mikayla and Michael. They could control ice and fire, respectively. I watched them for awhile and then my hand lights on fire. We put together that I can copy powers."

"Whatever happened to them? Serafina and the twins?" Tori frowned, "I think Serafina got sent of to a mutant school. The twins, well...they died. A bunch of anti mutant groups attacked their house. I don't know if explosions have fire or not but if they did Michael either couldn't control it or he was to slow."

"Wait, explosions?" Tori nodded. "Someone knew how to get grenades."

"Maybe their the same group that I encountered last night." Jade muttered to herself, though Tori still heard her.

However the Latina decided not to press the subject, "What about you? What can you do?" "A few things actually. I have heightened senses, you know sight, hearing, reflexes, etcetera. My main power however are these." With her fists balled up Jade let her bone claws out. Tori gasped and stared at the claws.

Jade got an idea in her mind, "Or...maybe this should be considered my main power." With that she drove the left set of claws straight through her right arm.

Tori shrieked, "Holy crap! Jade, what the hell are you doing!?"

Jade started laughing as she pulled the claws out, leaving three horrible wounds behind.

Tori stood up and moved to Jade to look at the injury, "This isn't funny, Jade! This is serious! We should get you to the hospit-" Before she could finish her sentence the wound slowly closed up, leaving no trace that it even happened. "I-What the hell?"

"Healing factor. Man that was funny. You should've seen your face."

Tori slapped her shoulder, "That wasn't funny! I thought you were seriously injured!" Jade grinned, "It was funny to me."

Tori glared at her and retook her seat on the couch, balling up the empty burrito wrapping and throwing it in the bag. "So, wait. You're like Wolverine and X-23." "Who the hell is X-23?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but when I saw her on the news she was with the X-Men and had two claws in her fists and a third in her feet. There's rumors that she's Wolverine's daughter on the internet."

"Wait...X-23." Experiment 23? Jade though to herself. With something to ponder she shook her head. "Yes, I'm like Wolverine. However, unlike Wolverine my fingernails grow awfully fast. And they're always so sharp. It's weird."

"Maybe that says something about you." "Bite me, Vega." "Bet you'd like that."

Jade rolled her eyes and retracted her claws. "More like you'd like it."

Tori smirked and decided to throw a curve ball, "Indeed I would. Just tell me where you want it."

Jade just stared at the girl for a moment before getting her train back on track, "My ass."

"Kinky."

"Your sick." Tori laughed and laid back on the couch.

Jade shook her head, "Last night you said something about your parents trying to give you a cure...are you not going back?"

"No. My parents are mutant haters. I'm a runaway now. Just for another year until I'm legal anyway...you a runaway?"

Jade thought for a moment, "I guess technically I am."

"I've got a proposition for you. There's a lot of mutant haters around here. Not to mention we'll get the cops on us sooner or later. If you watch your back I'll watch yours. Deal?"

"I suppose that could work…"

"I'm glad you agree. So, now what?" "I think i just want to relax...I had a rough day yesterday."

"Okay. If you want to talk about it.." "Don't get your hopes up on that." Jade said, standing up and walking out of the room.

Tori watched her go with a sigh.


	3. Moving On

Jade couldn't say she was unhappy with the situation she was in. Of course she wished her mother wasn't gone, but she had to make the most of a bad situation. She did feel slightly guilty that she got the somewhat comfortable bed and Tori was stuck on the couch; the very lumpy and horrible couch. Even if it was Tori's idea.

Living with the girl for two weeks and hardly going anywhere has let the two girls get to know each other. They weren't the best of friends, but they were at the least friends. Though Jade did get the feeling the Latina wanted to be a bit more then friends, not that she'd said anything about it.

Speaking of her roommate, Jade wondered when she would return. Tori had gone out to get food, but they had to be cheap about it. Their wallets were starting to run low and with no way to get more money, they were screwed. They had T.V. now though thanks to Jade. She went to the junkyard and found a T.V. that would do well, it wasn't anything fancy...or big. She also managed to tap into the neighbors cable, but Tori insisted they at least not buy anything and not watch it 24/7.

Which is why she was only watching the news. Apparently there was a hero in Los Angeles she never heard of called Metal Lass. She was kind of a rip off of Iron Man, with the same type of armor. However it was much slimmer then Iron Man's and it was pink. There was silver going from her ankles to her knees, which Jade assumed was imbedded with the armor for flair, and there was a similar look on her arm from her wrist to her elbows. Metal Lass had apparently been active for two years now and had defeated a number of villains including Rhino and Sabretooth. Though Jade did not like her because she stole Iron Man's thing, not that she likes him either. At least she did say on the News she was in no way associated with Iron Man and did not want to be called Iron Woman like the media had called her.

The next topic however got her attention. The anchorman smiled at the camera and announced, "Today, the Hollywood Police Department announced that a company, who wishes to remain anonymous, has created a cure for mutants. The HPD will help distribute the cure to any mutant that wishes to take it. This is not a new law, it is completely voluntary."

 

How many mutants will actually take that cure? Jade wondered to herself. She didn't have long to ponder that thought though as the door opened. "Jade?"

"In here." Jade called. The door slammed and moments later a certain Latina walked in the room with a bag of fast food. "What'd you bring us?" "Things off the dollar menu." Tori handed her the bag. "I ate mine on the way here." Jade pulled out the French fries and started munching on them. Tori happened to glance at the T.V. and saw the news. "Oh, God. They released it?" "Hm? Oh, yeah. Apparently they have a cure for mutants now."

"But we're not a disease!" Tori said.

"Most people think we are." Jade replied with a mouthful of fries.

"Yeah, all the ones that are scared of us. I mean I realize some of us don't want our powers, but why does it need to be a cure?"

"I don't know. What's your problem?"

"You're not upset about this?"

Jade shook her head, "Why would I be? It's not like I'm going to go and take it. If some mutants want to take it that's their thing."

Tori sighed and sat next to her on the couch. "I see your point. Okay… well I have good news and bad news for you." "What's the good news?" Jade looked at her.

"The good news is I got in contact with my sister, Trina, through the payphone and she's going to wire us money every now and then." "That is good. You sure she won't rat you out?" "Yes. Trina helped me with my powers and helped me keep it from my parents. She won't tell them." The raven haired girl nodded, "And the bad news?" "She also said my parents put out a missing persons for me and the cops are looking for me." "Damn."

"I think we should leave Hollywood."

"What?"

"Think about it: if we stay here they can find us. Let's go somewhere else. I always run the risk of running into my family here anyway." Jade thought about it for a moment before sighing, "Fine. But I want to stop by my house and see if there's anything I can take with me."

Tori nodded. "When?" "We'll go to my house tonight and leave first thing in the morning."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"I didn't think tonight meant midnight." Tori mumbled as she walked with Jade down the sidewalk.

"This is the time we are least likely to get caught." Jade snapped. She was slight concerned about how Tori would react when she saw her house. She had yet to tell the Latina exactly how she ended up on the streets.

They turned onto Jade's street and Jaded aimed her flashlight towards her house. The police hadn't cleaned up the building, they just put up a fence with a Do Not Enter sign on it. Jade rolled her eyes as she walked up to the gate.

Tori's eyes widened when she saw the ruined building. "You lived here? What happened?" "I don't know if I want to talk about it yet."

"I realize it must be hard for you if something bad happened but if you talk about it it might help you fell better."

Jade sighed and turned to look at her companion, "Look, Tori, I know you're trying to help, but this is something my healing factor can't fix. When I'm ready to talk about it you'll be the first to know but right now…" Tori nodded and rubbed the Goth's shoulder, "Okay."

Jade kicked the gate in and walked up to the house. The majority of the roof was collapsed in, part of the wall in the front gave way, however the door remained intact. "Do you mind waiting here?" "Take your time, Jade." Tori told her.

Jade gave her a slight smile then walked to the door and opened it. She knew her mother's body was gone and they held the funeral last week. She had gone, despite the risk, and hid in the back row. She saw Rachel and her father's in the front and it took everything not to go to them, just to tell them she was fine.

 

She walked through the halls and sighed at the sight. Many of the picture frames and decorations had been destroyed in the explosions. Jade had been hoping that at least one of the pictures of her and her mother survived, wanting a little reminder of her mother. Of course she had the dog tags but it wasn't the same as a picture. Nor were the memories the house brought back.

The door to her room had fallen off the hinges and a chunk of the room was blocked by the fallen roof. Her dresser was not under the debris and she took the backpack from the floor, dumping the contents on the floor. Jade then started to put as many of her clothes from the dresser in the backpack as she could. It was a pretty decent amount as the backpack was one of the larger ones. Her mother had insisted on making sure she had enough room for everything she would need for school.

Once she had enough clothes she looked around the room for anything else she would want to take. Once she realized the roof was covering a few items she might want she lifted the debris up and tossed it outside. Luckily for Tori she threw the debris out towards the backyard.

With the debris out of the way Jade could now see what was under it. Her table with her T.V. had broken, the T.V. shattered. Her horror movie collection was scattered along the floor, a few DVDs had come from their cases and lay on the floor broken or cracked. The girl was disappointed in that, most of those movies took her forever to find. Disappointment was quickly replaced with relief as blue eyes found a pair of scissors on the floor. For her sixteenth birthday Prue had gotten her daughter the pair of scissors that were used in her favorite movie, The Scissoring. The case for them had been shattered by the roof, but the scissors themselves remained intact. Jade quickly snatched them up and put them in her bag.

In the corner of the room was her chest. Inside of it was roughly two thousand dollars she had been saving. She was quite relieved when she saw it was still inside and quickly put the money in her pocket. The thought of money reminded her of Prue's account. Jade zipped up the backpack and hurried to her mother's room.

Prue's room was more then likely the room least damaged in the attack. The roof was where it was supposed to be, and the walls were still intact, but a few of the pictures on the wall had fallen and some furniture had tipped over. Prue's purse lay on the floor in front of her bedside table, where she would place it when she got home for good for the day. Jade picked it up and pulled the wallet out. She took the card from inside and carefully placed it back in the purse, setting it on the table. Deciding she had enough from the house she turned to leave, when she saw it. Laying on the floor in front of the dresser was a picture frame. Inside was a picture of Jade and her mother from a few months back. It was taken by a professional that Prue had insisted on going too. It turned out nice, even though Jade hated having to dress up for it. She carefully placed the picture in her backpack and left the house.

 

 

* * *

 

Jade walked out the door to see Tori sitting against the fence. The Latina looked up at her friend and stood up, "You get everything?"

"Yep. I found some money in my chest. Can't believe I forgot about it. I got my mom's card too. We can dip into her account when we start to run low."

Tori frowned, "Wait...we're stealing from your mom?" Jade shook her head, "No. Its technically mine. She was putting it in a college fund for me...but I don't believe that'll ever happen. Besides...mom won't have much use for it now."

Tori wanted to press on, ask her what she meant, but by the look in Jade's eyes, she knew she needed to keep quiet.

"Come on, let's go." Tori took her friend's hand in her own and lead her down the street.

"Where are we going to go? And how do we get there?" Jade asked.

"I'm not sure. We'll figure something out though."


	4. Malibu Fight Club

Jade had always had a thing for motorcycles. In fact that’s what the money in her chest was for. She was licensed to drive a motorcycle and she was going to buy one. She made a deal with a man to buy his from him because he was to old to ride it now and he did not want to see it go to waste. However she still needed five hundred more dollars to get it.

So, she woke up slightly earlier then planned and found the nearest ATM machine. Prue had been lying when she said there wasn't much money in the account. There was just over one hundred thousand dollars in the account. She took out seven hundred dollars then went to the old man's house.

Mr. Cranston was surprised Jade showed up so early in the morning to get the bike, but he was always up at this time and didn't mind. Jade paid him and, somewhat happily, drove the bike back to the house. Tori came outside hearing the motor, fully dressed and hair wet.

"Jade? What the hell are you doing with a motorcycle?" She questioned.

Jade grinned as she got off the bike, "I was going to buy this from someone when I got the money and I was really close to getting it. I figured we needed some way to get wherever we're going so I took the rest of the money from my mom's account and bought it earlier then I planned. I also took out a bit extra in case we need it."

Tori smiled, "Nice thinking, Jade. Where are we going to put our stuff though?"

"You can wear my backpack, that's really all we have. You only have that one set of clothes. I'm glad you wash it every couple of days."

"Well all right. Ready to leave now?"

"Yep."

"Great. I'll go get your pack. Everything's in it right?" Jade nodded and Tori hurried inside. She came back out with the pack on her back. Jade swung her leg back over the motorcycle and started it up. Tori sat behind her and wrapped her arms around Jade's waist, a little closer to her than a friend would be. Jade didn't seem to mind though and sped off.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After hours on the motorcycle the girls finally stopped in Malibu. They got a cheap hotel, or the cheapest one they could find with a pool that is. They didn't plan on staying that long, but Tori insisted on enjoying the beach and for some reason Jade just couldn't say no to her.

The Latina all but dragged her friend to the closest swimwear store to buy themselves bathing suits and such things. When they had what they needed the girls were off to the beach.

The beach was awfully crowded and Jade didn't like it much, having never been one for crowds. With her black sunglasses and black bikini she laid on a beach chair under and umbrella and relaxed. As much as she loved the motorcycle, she wasn't quiet used to it yet.

Tori was standing next to her in her own aqua two piece, her arms crossed and a frown on her face. "Jade, come on. Let's go for a swim."

"Why do you need me to go swimming with you? You scared or something?" Jade looked up at her.

"No. I just...I want to spend time with you."

"And the two weeks together aren't enough?"

Tori sighed, "That's different. All we could do was sit around hiding."

Jade glanced at the water, then back to Tori, biting her cheek. "Look, honestly Tori, I don't do oceans. Pools, yes, but I don't go in the ocean."

"Why not?" "The last time I went into the ocean I had an...encounter with a dolphin." Jade confessed.

Tori raised an eyebrow, now curious, "Encounter?"

"I...you know what um...how your parents had to do to have you right?"

"I-wait. The dolphin tried to have sex with you?"

"Don't say it like that!" Jade protested.

Though she tried to hold back Tori burst into laughter. Jade frowned and crossed her arms, glaring at the girl. Tori knelt down next to her and put her hand on her arm, "Jade, I'm sorry but that's just...how does that even happen?"

"I don't know! It just came out of nowhere. Rachel and I were just swimming and messing around-"

"Wait, wait. Whose Rachel?" Tori asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"My cousin." Jade deadpanned.

Tori blushed from embarrassment. "Oh."

"Tori, I'm sorry, I'll swim with you all you want at the hotel pool, but I can't get in the ocean."

Tori sighed, "Okay. I'll stop pushing. Sorry...and I didn't mean to laugh at you."

"Yeah you did. If you told me that story I would've laughed too. Doesn't mean I'm not upset with you for it though."

The Latina shook her head and headed to the water.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Tori had a slight pout on her lips as she walked into the water. How was she ever going woo Jade if she couldn't get her to do anything with her. Tori had known for a long time that she was into girls, but none had got her attention as much as Jade did. She could see herself falling for the raven haired girl and staying with her for a long time. She just had to get the girl's attention.

 

The ocean water was nice and cold. Deciding to go ahead and get it over with Tori dipped her head under the water. She came back up and saw another person in front of her. It was a guy with shoulder length black hair. "Whoa!"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized.

"It's fine. Just didn't expect someone to pop out of nowhere." Tori chuckled awkwardly.

"I just saw you looked a little down. You're in Malibu, more specifically the beach in Malibu."

"I know. It's really nice here."

"Then why the frown?"

"My friend wouldn't join me."

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll keep you company."

"Thanks. I'm Tori."

"I'm Beck." He gave her a smile.

Tori slipped back under the water, until just her head was visible. "So, are you on vacation?"

"No, I guess you could say I live here. You?"

"Uh. It's a bit complicated."

"I see." Beck nodded, then threw water in Tori's face.

She gasped and wiped her eyes. "Oh, you're going to get it now!"

 

* * *

 

Jade was enjoying herself in her chair, until she heard Tori laugh. She looked over to see Tori and a guy throwing water at each other. She frowned slightly and averted her eyes. Her eyes caught site of a blonde girl talking with a dark haired Asian girl and smirked. Two can play this game Vega.

She walked over to the cute blonde and gave her a smile. "Hey there."

The girl gave her an awkward smile, "Hi."

"You know that the beach is meant for bikinis and such like this right?" Jade gestured to her own swimsuit. "Not shirts and jeans, despite how good you look in them."

The blonde blushed, "I know, but we aren't staying long. We're just looking for something. You do look good in that though." Jade smirked as she say the girls eyes travel up and down her body.

The blonde's friend rolled her eyes, "Karolina, this is not the time for you to be flirting."

"I- what? Nico, I'm not flirting!"

"Erm, are you two dating or something?" Jade questioned hesitantly.

"What? No." Nico quickly denied.

Jade caught the hurt look in Karolina's eyes at the quick denial. "Then what's the problem?"

"We are here on business. Not fun."

"All work and no play will make you a dull girl ya know." Jade said. "Besides what business can you have on the beach?"  

 

* * *

 

 

Between getting splashed by Beck and dunking him under the water, Tori caught a glimpse of Jade's empty beach chair. When Beck came back up she caught his wrists, "Hold on. Jade's gone."

"Maybe she went back to the hotel." Beck offered.

Tori quickly scanned the crowd and saw Jade standing awfully close to two girls. "Or she's flirting with some chick. I'll be back." The girl quickly made it to the sand and marched straight towards Jade, slightly aware Beck was following her.

"Besides what business can you have on the beach?" Jade was saying.

"It doesn't matter." Nico said.

"Excuse me, girls," Tori said sweetly, standing next to Jade, "There you are Jade."

"Oh, hi Vega. You finished flirting with the actor wanna be?" Jade questioned.

Beck awkwardly rubbed his neck, "I'm not an actor wanna be and my name is Beck."

Before Jade could tell him to go to hell there was a loud crash from a nearby building followed by a loud alarm.

 

"The hell was that?" Jade questioned.

"Nico, we have to go check it out." Karolina said.

"Karolina, we're looking for a runaway not a chance to be heroes." Nico said.

"We can't just do nothing!"

Nico sighed, "Fine. Let's go." Karolina grinned and the two ran towards the alarms.

"What're you doing?! You're gonna get hurt!" Jade shouted at them.

"Come on, Jade. Let's help them." Tori said, running after them, with Beck quickly behind her.

"Tori! Aw dammit!" Jade cursed as she chased after her.

 

"Haha. This time we're getting off scot free boys." The supervillian known as Wrecker announced as he held up a duffle bag filled with money in his left hand, his magic crowbar in his right hand.

To his right was Thunderball, who had two duffle bags in his hands, his magic wrecking ball wrapped around his right hand. "And this time we don’t have Piledriver's kid to share the money with!"

Piledriver shook his head, "Well his enchanted shovel broke thanks to that mutant kid. I don't even know which juvie he's in."

He didn't go on further when Bulldozer shoved another duffle bag in his hand. "Quit whining about that annoying brat of yours and let's get going before some do gooder shows up!" The Wrecking Crew proudly marched out of the vault of the bank and straight out the doors. Where they found two girls waiting for them.

"Oh, great, it's the witch and E.T."

"You guys again?" Nico stared at them. "You're robbing a bank in broad daylight. Did you think you'd get away?"

"There's no heroes in Malibu right now. Perfect time to steal." Wrecker glanced around, "They don't have the mutie or that dinosaur girl with them this time. We can handle them."

"Hey! Don't you know that mutie is a harsh word?" Everyone turned to see Tori running up to them. "Watch your mouth or this mutant will break your face."

"You’re a mutant?" Karolina questioned.

Nico looked at Tori closely, "Hey, wait a second. You're the runaway we're looking for."

"Deal with that later Nico."

Beck and Jade caught up with them.

"Guys, if you don't have powers you better back off." Karolina warned.

"Oh, I'm probably the strongest one here." Jade grinned, closing her fists and with a snikt her claws were free.

"Holy crap." Nico commented.

Thunderball dropped his duffle bag and started swirling it around like a lasso. "What're you? Some kind of Wolverine wanna be?"

"Yeah. Something like that. And unless you want your asses kicked I suggest you put that money back."

"Get 'em boys." Wrecker commanded.

Jade moved to charge but was met with a wrecking ball. She was slammed into a nearby light post, snapping it in two.

"Jade!" Tori cried. "Oh, you're asking for it!" Within a second she was in the air and closing in on Thunderball, fire erupting from her palms.

Karolina pulled off her bracelet and her body was glowing with bright, colorful lights. She flew up in the air and then dive bombed directly towards Piledriver.

 

 

"Dammit, I don't have Chase's knife. I can't get the Staff of One!" Nico shouted.

"Perfect." Bulldozer grinned as he charged at Nico.

"Not so fast big guy." Beck said, standing in front of Nico." You want her you gotta go through me."

"Easy pretty boy."

"So you'd think." Beck grinned, and with a wave of his hand Bulldozer was surrounded by a group of Beck's.

"The hell is this!"

"Magic. Now which one's the real pretty boy?" The Beck's said at once as they started circling Bulldozer.

"Whoa. That's a good one." Nico commented.

"What was this about needing to bleed?" Nico jumped when she heard Jade's voice in her ear.

"My Staff of One is my power source, but it's in my body. To get it out I need to bleed."

"Easy." Jade withdrew two of her claws on one hand and quickly dragged the remaining straight across Nico's arm.

"When blood is drawn is shed...let the Staff of One emerge!" With the words a staff shot out of Nico's chest.

Jade's eyes widened as she released her claws again, "Freaky." She saw Wrecker about to get involved with Tori and Thunderball's fight and ran to intercept him.

Meanwhile Bulldozer was still swinging at Beck. Every time he hit one, his hand would go straight through him.

Beck laughed, "What's the matter? Can't find the original?"

"All I need is one shot!"

"To bad you won't get it." Nico said, aiming the Staff at him. "I bet you'd make a nice... **Statue**." With the spell cast Bulldozer immediately froze in place, his body covered in a shade of gray.

All the Beck's, save one, vanished, and the original walked over to Nico. "Is that permanent?"

"No. It'll probably wear off in an hour or so." Nico said.

"Too bad."

 

 

"Last time you got lucky, freak! This time you won't get the best of me!" Piledriver shouted.

"Really? Let's test that theory." Karolina concentrated and a burst of energy shot from her hand and Piledriver was to slow to dodge. The energy blast threw him off his feet and straight into the wall of the bank. He fell on the ground, out cold yet again thanks to the alien girl. "Well what do you know? Took you down again."

 

 

Tori barely managed to duck under the wrecking ball. She was starting to wonder whether this was a good idea.

"Stay still!" Thunderball snapped, irritated.

"And I'd do that why?" Tori questioned. However an idea appeared in her head and she grinned. "Okay, take your best shot." She floated in one spot, directly in Thunderball's line of fire.

Confident he had her, Thunderball threw the wrecking ball directly at her. Tori waited for the perfect moment before throwing her arms up and letting the ice fly from her hands. Within seconds the ball was frozen solid. Tori grinned and quickly threw the ball to the ground, shattering it into pieces. With his weapon gone Thunderball was caught off guard. Tori used her ice powers to create a sledgehammer made of ice and flew straight at the villain. When she was close enough she swung the hammer with all her might, cracking it against Thunderball's skull. He fell to the ground and Tori grinned. "I did it!"

 

 

Wrecker moved in to take out Tori while she was distracted by Thunderball, however a raven haired girl blocked his path. "One more step and I slice your hands off."

"You're a bad Wolverine you know. His claws aren't bone. I bet you can't even pierce skin with those." Wrecker mocked.

"Let's fine out." Jade growled, jumping towards him and slashing wildly.

Wrecker blocked her with his crowbar, forcing it forwards to throw her off balance. Taking advantage he brought his crowbar forward and there was a loud crack as it made contact with Jade's jaw. She stumbled back as her jaw hung loose.

Wrecker laughed, "Haha! See what you get for trying to stop me? You get a broke jaw."

Jade growled, retracted her claws and delivered a right hook right to Wrecker's jaw. He staggered slightly, but recovered quickly and retaliated with another swing from his crowbar. This time Jade ducked under it and attacked with her left hand, with her claws still extended on the hand. Her claws caught him on the chest but didn't draw blood. Wrecker brought his crowbar down, intending to connect with Jade's skull. Jade, however, saw it coming and caught the crowbar with her right hand. She twisted his arm, then jumped over it wrenching his arm more and forcing him to let go off the crowbar. As soon as her feet were on the ground Jade spun on her heels and brought Wrecker's own crowbar across his face. Jade smirked as she heard a snapping sound. Retracting her claws she touched her jaw and the smirk grew. "Superhuman strength and a healing factor. Break my bones all you want I'll keep coming back for more." The crowbar made contact with Wrecker's temple and he fell to the ground. She threw the weapon at his unconscious body and walked over to the others.

 

 

"I can't believe we just beat the Wrecking Crew!" Tori shouted gleefully.

Hearing police sirens Nico looked around, "Let's celebrate that fact later and get out of here before the cops show up. Karolina you might want to put your sun block on."

"Oh. Right." Karolina put her bracelet back on and the lightshow was gone.

The group quickly ran back to the beach barely managing to avoid the police.

Jade collapsed in her beach chair and rubbed her jaw, "Son of a bitch that hurt."

"You okay?" Karolina asked, concerned.

The Goth nodded, "Fine, my healing factor fixed it up. I'm just lucky it set properly. How did you do that glowy bit thing?"

"I'm...I'm an alien."

"Nice. At least your not meant to be someone else." Jade mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. So, actor boy, how'd you do that magic trick?"

"Uh...well I'm...the son of Loki." Beck said.

"Loki, as in Thor's brother?" Tori questioned.

"Yes. I can't do all the stuff he can, but I've got a bit of magic tricks I can do. What about you? How do you have three powers?"

"I can copy any mutants power, but I can't control so the powers I get are completely random."

"You're a runaway." Nico said, the Staff of One disappearing inside her chest.

"How'd you know that?" Tori asked.

"Don't you watch the news? You're all over it. You're parents are worried sick."

Tori scoffed and crossed her arms. "I don't care. My parent's are jackasses."

"Oh, I'm sure they aren't that bad." Karolina said. "Our parents were a lot worse."

"They want to make me take that mutant cure." Tori said. "I don't need that! I'm proud of who I am."

"Good for you. So, wait. They're trying to force you to take a cure so you ran away?" Nico looked at her.

"My parents are mutant haters. They'd do anything to get rid of mutants. Even me. My dad's trying to get Sentinels brought back."

"Oh, God." Jade groaned.

"Why don't you come stay with us?" Karolina suggested. "We're runaways too. Our parents are evil."

Beck quirked his head slightly, "Hold up. I know you. You’re the kids of The Pride."

"The Pride?" Tori looked at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"They were a group that basically ran L.A. until they died. Everyone thinks their kids killed them."

"Yes, we are The Pride's children, but we didn't kill them." Nico argued. "That's just something the media assumes."

Karolina looked from Tori to Jade. "You can both come with us. I mean we have enough girls as it is, but you'd be safe." She glanced hesitantly at Beck, "I suppose you can come too, but I don't know if you're a runaway."

"That's sweet of you to offer, Karolina, but I think I'll have to decline." Tori said. "I'm unsure what my plan actually is, and no offense but I don't think it's with you guys."

Karolina nodded and looked at Jade, "What about you, Jade?"

Jade smiled softly at the girl, "Sorry Karolina, but I can't leave Tori all by herself."

"I'll stick with her." Beck offered.

"Fat chance I'd leave her alone with you." Jade said venomously.

She saw Karolina frown a bit and asked, "Hey do you have a piece of paper?" Confused, Karolina checked her pockets until she found a receipt from a store and a pen. Jade quickly scribbled on it and handed it back. "If you need our help again you can call me. Or Nico can call. You get what I mean."

"We'll keep it in mind." Nico said. She looked at Karolina, "Well, let's head back to the others. I think Molly will like to hear how we met more mutants."

"Or she could be upset she didn't get to meet them too." Karolina pointed out. "Bye guys." Karolina and Nico walked down the street and were soon out of site.

 

Tori look over at Beck, "So, exactly how old are you anyway?"

"Nineteen. I'll assume since your runaways your under eighteen."

"Seventeen thank you very much." Jade corrected him.

"What are you planning on doing?" Tori asked.

Beck shrugged, "I have no idea. I'm just trying to help people when I can."

"Defying your father's wishes huh?"

"Something like that."

"Maybe you can come with us." Tori suggested.

"What? No!" Jade snapped, crossing her arms.

Tori frowned, "Jade, come on. He could help us."

"I've got my own car and money." Beck offered.

Jade sighed, "Fine. He'll sleep on the bed I was going to sleep in and I'll just sleep with you."

"I can sleep with her."

"Over my dead body."

Tori shook her head, "I agree with Jade's plan actually. I don't sleep with guys I just met."

"Fair enough." Beck said.

"What do we do now?" Jade asked.

"I just realized you still have your sunglasses on." Tori said suddenly. "I'm surprised they didn't fall off during the fight."

Jade smiled, "What can I say? I know how to pick my glasses."

"Indeed. Lemme see them." Tori took the sunglasses from Jade's head.

"Hey! Give those back!" Jade reached to take them back, but Tori ducked under her reach and ran off. Jade cursed and quickly chased after her leaving Beck to watch and chuckle at the girls.


	5. Opening Up

They'd been in Malibu for two days now. The cops were still after Tori, but they had yet to come to Malibu. Jade also found out that everyone thought she was killed along with her mother and the body was burned to ash. Which was good for her until she thought about her sweet cousin. Rachel thought she was dead too. She couldn't imagine how Rachel was feeling right now. She considered writing her a letter but wasn't sure if she should.

 

She also wasn't sure if letting Beck come with them was a good idea. Sure he seemed nice and all, but he is the son of Loki. He could turn on them for all she knew! Or perhaps she was just jealous because he always flirted with Tori. But he did have money and his own car so now they didn’t have to be cheap and only get two pairs of clothes. Not that she planned to get fifty some odd outfits.

 

Also, since Beck came around Jade hasn't got to spend that much time with Tori, not like how it was before Beck anyway. Jade never had that many friends, but only because she never actually let anyone get close to her. Tori, though, had something about her that just made people want to be friends with her. Maybe it's one of her copied mutant powers but probably not. Tori was just one of those people that you could tell anything too.

 

So, she had an opportunity today to finally talk to the Latina. Beck was going off for the day to do some shopping. He tried to get Tori to go too, but she didn't want to go. He tried a bit to hard to get her to come along and pissed her off. Which was perfect for Jade, she didn't like fighting for Tori's attention.

 

With Beck gone Jade took the opportunity to talk to the Latina. The opportunity presented itself when Tori came in from the pool. After she got out of the shower Jade took her chance. "Tori?"

 

Now fully dressed, hair still wet however, Tori dropped onto their bed and looked at the Goth. Jade was sitting cross legged on the bed, a nervous expression on her face though she looked like she was trying to hide it. "Yeah?"

 

"I-uh. I'm ready to talk."

Tori raised her eyebrow, "Talk? You mean about what's got you so down a lot of the time?"

"Well yeah."

"You know you don't have to right?"

Jade nodded, "Yeah but…I need to get it out."

"All right." "Okay...the day I met you my house was attacked by a group of mutant haters. They had grenades and.." Jade took a breath before continuing, "my mom died."

Immediately Tori moved next to Jade and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." "And before that she told me that I'm a clone. Don't give me that look, Vega." Tori blushed and looked away, even though Jade wasn't even looking at her. "She was apart of some company and they were trying to clone Wolverine." She reached under her shirt and pulled out the dog tags. "She gave me this."

"X-13?"

"I was apparently the 13th attempt at cloning him. Mom wanted a kid, told them it didn’t take, quit and ran all the way to Los Angeles with me."

"Is that so bad?"

"Yes! I'm just a copy of someone else! "

Tori shook her head, "That's not true."

"It is!"

"It's not. You are your mother's child. You got half of him and half of her, right?"

"I...I don't know honestly."

"I find it very hard to believe that she carried you for nine months and you didn't get ANY of her DNA. I mean, I don't know how they had to do all that, but I would think they'd need one of her eggs. Do you look like her?"

"I.." Jade reached under the bed, pulled out her bag and got a picture frame from it. She handed the picture of her and her mother to Tori.

Tori smiled slightly, "You do look like her. See? Your not just a clone. You're a person. Sure, you started as a clone and if your mom hadn't left that place then maybe you would just be a straight clone. But she didn't and you're not a clone. You are your own person." She softly cupped Jade's cheeks in her palms. "You've lived your own life without knowing about this until now. Yes, you may have similarities with Wolverine but you're not exactly like him."

"I.." Jade couldn't actually argue with her and started to consider the Latina's words. She had a very valid point in all honesty. "Thanks Tori."

"I gotta be here for you." Tori smiled gently, tucking a strand of hair behind the Goth's ear.

Jade licked her lips and started to lean in and was quite pleased to see Tori doing the same. She closed her eyes and could feel the slight brush of lips against hers and went to press against them. The knock on the door caused both of them to turn to glare at the intrusion.

"Ay dios mio! Honestly, Beck I told you to get the key before you left!" The Irish-Latina jumped to her feet as she spoke, swiftly moving to the door swinging it open.

However, it wasn't Beck at the door. Instead there was a suit of armor at the door, a pink suit of armor.

Jade's jaw dropped, "Holy sh-"

"I ask you to refrain from finishing that sentence please." Metal Lass said, the voice coming out slightly robotic, mostly like to help disguise her voice. "May I come in?"

Tori stepped aside and there was a slight thunk as the heroine walked inside. Tori shut the door and stared. "Ay yi yi."

"What are you Alpha 5?" Metal Lass questioned.

The girl let out an excited squeal, "You’re a real hero! What are you doing here?"

"The bank you defended from the Wrecking Crew had security cameras. They put you on T.V." "Oh, dammit!" Jade cursed and stood up just to kick the bed.

Metal Lass raised her hands, "Now, now. It's not a bad thing. The cameras were blurry so they didn't get much, but I was able to clear it up and get your faces clear. I know your runaways and I want to help you." "By sending us back?" Tori crossed her arms. "That's what heroes do isn't it? Follow the law exactly?"

Shaking her head the hero replied, "Not exactly. See, I want your help." Jade raised an eyebrow, "How can we trust you? You've seen us, we don't know anything about you."

The visor on Metal Lass's helmet split vertically and retracted to the sides, revealing a girl with brown eyes and red hair, reminding Jade of a red velvet cupcake. "My name is Cat Valentine-Shapiro. I really need your help."


	6. Information And Allies

A/N ScottyBgood: Power wise Jade is a perfect replica of Wolverine. She's only different in her looks and personality, though they share some similarities. Her claws, as I think I've mentioned, are void of adamantium. She's working with strictly bone claws. I wouldn't call it a power but Jade's fingernails grow out faster then normal and if she wanted she could use them like Sabertooth does. This isn't spoilers btw.

 

 

"Why would you need our help?" Jade gave the heroine a questioning look. "We're not heroes, no matter how much Tori has Hero Envy."

"Hey, I grew up watching the X-Men and the Avengers save us time and time again." "So did I but that doesn't mean we need to worship the ground some of them don’t walk on."

"I don't do that!" Tori protested, crossing her arms.

Cat decided to intervene, "I saw the footage remember? You didn't hesitate to spring into action to stop the bad guys."

"That doesn't explain why you need our help." Tori said.

"See, my archnemesis, Silver Destroyer, has teamed up with a bunch of baddies and I.." she sighed, as if it were hard to say. "I can't beat them by myself."

"And you want us to help you? Why not call The Avengers or the Fantastic Four? Hell the Young Avengers would be better than us." Jade snapped.

"Okay, look, I'll level with you. I'm a new hero. I need to show all the other heroes I can do this kind of thing on my own without needing to run to them. And besides, I can see that you can be good heroes too."

"And what do we get if we help you?"

"Well, the cops will track you down eventually if you keep going from motel to motel. You can stay in my house, it's big enough for everyone and it'll keep the cops of your trail."

"You're not worried about getting in trouble?" Tori asked.

Cat shook her head, "I know you're runaways but I'm sure you have very good reasons."

Tori looked from Cat to Jade then gave the redhead a polite smile, "Just give us a minute to talk this out?"

"Sure, but don’t take too long I might've drawn more attention then I wanted out there." There was a hint of a blush on Cat's face.

 

 

Confused about where to go to get some privacy Tori had a moment before she grabbed Jade's wrist and dragged her inside the bathroom. She shut the door behind them and opened her mouth to speak but Jade beat her to it.

"No."

"Jade, come on. We won't have to worry about rent, right now anyway, and she's right. We can't outrun them forever."

"But being a superhero? Really? I don't do spandex okay?"

"No one said you had to wear that. Come on, Jay."

Jade sighed, "This is a bad idea."

"I don't want to go without you, but I can't just not help."

"I know you can't. Fine. We'll go."

Tori smiled and gave the Goth a quick kiss before walking out of the bathroom. Jade stood there for a moment with a finger to her lip before slowly following the Latina.

 

"We'll help." Tori announced. "Don't you have to confer with that guy too?"

Tori's eyes widened slightly, "Oh, you need Beck too?"

"Well I guess I don't really because with you two the numbers are even but better safe than sorry."

"Um. Well he's not here right now."

Cat opened a compartment on her boot and handed the younger girl a card. "This is my card. It's got my address on it. Talk to him and then you can pack up and head over. I've got places for your cars in my garage. I'll see you later." The visor shut and Metal Lass quickly made her exit.

 

 

Jade wasn't at all surprised at how quickly Beck agreed to help a girl he didn't know. She couldn't figure out though, if he were doing it just for Tori or as possibly a rebellion against his Asgardian father. Within an hour the group packed up, checked out and drove to the address. What they found was a mansion.

Well, at least Jade thought it was a mansion. It was big enough to be a mansion, but wasn't all that big. It gave Jade the impression that Cat was rich, but just barely. Not that it mattered, she would've stayed in a house if that's what Cat had.

"This is a big place." Beck mumbled.

"Should've figured she was rich. How else can she afford that suit." Jade said.

Tori stepped up and rang the doorbell. A moment later Cat opened the door, now void of the suit and wearing a shirt and jeans. "Girls! I'm glad you made it. And you brought your friend too. Oh, your cars are in front. Here give me your keys and I'll get Roland to put them in the garage."

Beck handed over his keys, but Jade crossed her arms. "Hell no. No one touches my motorcycle but me. Roland can lead me to the garage and I'll put it in there." Cat nodded, "If you insist."

"I assume Roland is your butler." Tori said.

"Yes. He's just in the other room. Roland!"

Roland was a tall man, even taller than Beck, wearing the normal butler outfit. He had no hair, not even facial hair, but gave Cat a warm look, "Yes Miss?"

Cat handed the man Beck's keys. "Put this in the garage for our guests. They'll be staying with us for awhile. Jade here doesn't like anyone to touch her vehicle so she'll follow you inside. Once your done with that could you please take their bags to their rooms? Oh, pardon me." The woman turned to the group. "Are any of you um..wanting to room together?"

Before Beck could even speak Jade jumped in front of him, "Well, I've got very used to sleeping with Tori. If she doesn't mind I mean."

With warm cheeks Tori nodded, "Fine with me."

Cat gave them a knowing grin and turned to the butler. "You heard them Roland. You can put them in the guest rooms down the hall close to my room."

"So, more near your own room then your husbands?"

"Yeah. After that you can take a break. Didn't you have a movie you wanted to go too? You can go to that." Roland smiled, "Thank you Miss Cat."

"I've told you just to call me Cat."

The older man shook his head, "As a butler I need to keep it professional with anyone until the day I am fired or quit."

Cat giggled and shook her own head, "Okayyy. But really go enjoy yourself. You work too hard around here. Oh, after you get done in the garage can you lead Jade to the T.V. room? Or I may be in the kitchen if he's still working."

"As you wish." Roland walked out the front door and Jade followed after him.

 

"Come along. I'll introduce you to my husband." Tori could have sworn she heard a bit of….repentance at the mention of Cat's husband.

She and Beck followed the redhead through the house and into a "family room". Sitting on the couch was a skinny man, glasses and a look of concentration on his face. He was leaning over the coffee table using a screwdriver on a fancy looking gun.

"Robbie?" Cat questioned.

"Just a minute babe." Robbie didn't even look up.

Cat sighed and instead lead the duo into the kitchen. Once they were in the room she gestured for them to take a seat at the table, which they did, one on each side of the table. Cat sat at the head of the table. "That was my charming husband Robbie."

"What was he doing?" Beck questioned.

"Robbie works for different companies. He basically makes different technology for different organizations, like right now he's working on a prototype blaster for Shield."

"How old are you two?" Beck once again asked a question.

"I'm 23, and Robbie is a year older then me." Cat answered calmly.

"Isn't that a young age to be married?"

"Beck!"

"It's all right, Tori. I sometimes wonder the same thing. Robbie and I dated during senior year and college. We got married once we finished school."

Beck went to once again ask a question, but Tori shot a piece of ice at him. "Beck, shut up! She's letting us stay here don’t be a jerk." Tori shook her head and looked at Cat. "So, how can we help you?"

"Um, I'll explain once Jade gets here. I don't really want to have to explain it twice if I don't have to."

"We'll I'm here. Start explaining." Jade's voice came from the doorway just before she walked in. Roland wasn’t with her however.

"Where's Roland?"

"He lead me here then went out."

"Would you like a drink? I've got soda, lemonade, tea.."

"Tea."

"Lemonade."

"Soda."

Cat giggled, "Once of each then." She walked to the fridge and started pouring the drinks.

"How was the garage?" Beck asked Jade.

"That's a lot of cars." Jade said. "A mustangs, firebirds, thunderbirds, trucks. Whose are those?" Cat walked over and sat the soda in front of Jade, and the lemonade in front of Tori. "Some are mine, some are Robbie's." "Robbie?"

"Her husband." Beck said, taking his tea from the redhead with an appreciative smile.

"Ah." "She's 23."

"Uh.." Jade looked at him awkwardly.

"I will freeze you, Beck." Tori said warningly.

"Well, now that your all here," Cat sat back down, "let's talk about why I need you."

"You can't do it alone?" Jade offered as she lifted the glass to her lips.

"More specifically. See, the Silver Destroyer is an old classmate of mine that stole my prototype armor."

"Prototype armor? I thought you were using Iron Man's old armor."

"Oh no. I have nothing to do with Iron Man. I even went on record stating that. See, Iron Man saved my high school once and he's been the real inspiration for me wanting to help people. So, Robbie decided he'd make me my own armor so I could save the city. He knew how much I loved Iron Man and used his suit for inspiration."

Jade nodded, "And the prototype armor that was stolen is the first he made for you." Nodding in agreement Cat continued, "Right. And she just hates me so she's trying to destroy me and the city. She hasn't been able to beat me so she's got friends now to help her. I don't know any of their names, but there's three of them. There's two girls: one seems to be telekinetic and the other is terrakinetic."

"What's terrakinetic?" Beck asked.

"Terrakinesis. She can control the ground. Make a fist with it, stairs, whatever she wants. But I don't think she can move the whole world or anything like that. And there's a guy with them, but I have no clue what his power is. I felt some kind of...pull towards him though like I was supposed to do what he wanted. I suspect he has some kind of charm power though and my suit protected me from it."

"They moped the floor with you didn't they?"

"Big time. I already have one helper but I figure five would be better than four. "

"So, Robbie's going to help us?"

Cat started to laugh at that. It was a good minute before she settled down. "Robbie- Robbie doesn't fight. No, my friend will help."

"Friend?"

 

Jade suddenly leapt to her feet, claws extended, seconds before there was a puff of smoke behind Cat and a man stood behind her. He was wearing all black; tank top, pants and boots. He had a sword on his back and a utility belt around his waist.

"Cat, watch out!"

"Jade, calm down it's okay. Seriously, you need to start using the door." Cat turned to face the intruder.

He gave her a slight chuckle in response, "Sorry, Lil Red."

"This is my friend, Andre. Or Slayer, as he's called."

"Hi, I'm Tori." Tori said, smiling at him. "This is Beck and Jade. Jade settle down." She reached up and put a hand on Jade's arm. "How'd you know he was going to be here before he was here?"

Jade gave him another look before sitting back down and retracting her claws. "I...smelled him."

"Smelled him?'

"Well dang, I didn't think I smelled that bad. I mean I'm using a new shampoo but-"

"No, you idiot. I can tell people apart without seeing them by their scent. Your scent appeared a second before you did."

"Huh. Maybe something's wrong with my teleporter." Andre mumbled to himself.

"Andre here helps me out occasionally when I need it."

"So, what's his power?"

Andre shrugged, "Don't have one."

Tori raised an eyebrow curiously, "No powers?"

Andre shook his head, "Not one. I am a master at many different fighting styles, including weapons, and I've also created my own accessories. Well tweaked them really. Robbie helped me work some bugs out."

"Accessories?" Jade questioned. "What you got an ear ring to go with that outfit?"

"Yeah, it makes me look pretty." Andre replied. "No, accessories like this." He pulled a pair of shurikens from the belt.

"You a ninja or something?"

"No, man. Something like that though."

Cat gave Andre a very warm smile before turning to the group. "I think before we take you out to fight these guys we should help you improve your fighting abilities."

"Improve our fighting abilities?" Tori repeated.

"Yeah. I mean don't get me wrong, your fighting instincts are great. However, it never hurts to improve what you know about fighting. Andre's always teaching me new things."

Feeling like there was a double meaning to that Tori responded slowly, "Well… I guess it can't hurt to learn a bit of fighting. Though I did take some karate classes awhile back."

"That's good." Andre said. "Let's head to the gym. You tell me what you remember from those classes and we'll go from there. I guess we'll start from scratch with you two." Andre gestured to Beck and Jade.

"I think I’m fine with my instincts. After all I do have the instincts of Wolverine."

"Uh..what?" Andre and Cat, even Beck, looked at the Goth confused.

"I'm a clone of Wolverine." Jade stated. "I can fight like he can."

"I'm pretty sure he had to learn all that." Tori said, glad that she seemed to be getting over the fact that she was a clone. "Come on, it won't be bad. Besides, Wolverine's claws are coated in adamantium. Yours aren't."

Jade sighed, "Fine." She took Tori's hand and followed Cat through the halls.


	7. Discovers And A New-ish Power

Training wasn't actually that bad for the girls. Tori actually recalled her karate classes quite well and Andre was able to teach her more basic fighting moves. The Latina's fighting style was completely different then Jade's. Tori was more fluid, more calculating and thoughtful. Jade was wild, pure aggression, no strategy at all. Andre tried to tell her that there was more to fighting then strength, but she was determined to just plow through all her enemies. Not that she wasn't good at fighting. She had pretty good instincts about it, but she was still just an amateur. He did teach her a few moves to help her, but she seemed more resistant then Tori.

Beck, however, denied the training offer. He claimed that he would mostly use his magic and wouldn't need to get hand to hand that often. Andre told him he should learn a bit at least but the demigod wouldn't budge.

 

After an hour Jade needed to use the restroom so she left the training area and headed down the hall. As she turned a corner she bumped into someone, who she quickly realized was Robbie.

"Dammit!" She cursed. "Sorry."

"Who're yo- wait you're one of the girls Cat recruited right?" Robbie looked her up and down, as if he was studying her. It kind of made her feel weird.

"Um...yeah I'm Jade." She said awkwardly.

"Robbie Shapiro. So, what's your power? She wouldn't tell me."

Jade raised her fist and let her claws out with a snkkt. Robbie tilted his head looking at them from different angles. After a moment he asked, "May I?" Jade shrugged and he carefully touched one of the claws. Discovering it was bone, as it looked, he muttered, "Fascinating. Just like Wolverine and X-23."

"Yeah, I know. I'm a clone of Wolverine okay? I'm tired of- wait. Whose X-23?"

"X-23? Um. I'm not sure exactly who she is." Robbie started, an apologetic look flashing on his face before continuing. "I know she's on the X-Men team, or was for a while, and was also with X-Factor. She seems to have all of Wolverine's powers, including the adamantium claws. I suppose its possible she's a clone too, but she is different then you. Only two of her claws are in her hand, the third is in her foot."

Jade gave him an unsure look, "Seriously? Her foot?"

Robbie nodded. "Yes, she's quite deadly actually. But I notice you don't have the adamantium. Why?"

"Well...obvious answer is it wasn't part of his mutation. It was put on later on." Jade shrugged.

The scientist ran a finger along the top of her middle claw, "You know, if you want I could coat your claws in adamantium."

"Really?" Jade raised an eyebrow. She was skeptical of this because frankly it seemed impossible.

"Indeed. It would be a bit painful though. I already have some liquid adamantium. I was trying to get make a weapon from it, but I can't get the mechanics to work correctly." He added the last bit at another odd look from Jade. "The process would involve having to extract the claws from your hand, coating them in the adamantium and then carefully putting them back into your hand. I don't know if anesthesia would work on you because of the healing factor, I'm assuming you have that too."

"Why would you do this for me though? You don't even know me."

"That's true. But you're going to be helping my wife. Without the adamantium you're at a disadvantage compared to Wolverine. He can cut through anything. You might be lucky to stab someone and not break a claw on a rib."

"Can I think about it?"

"By all means. Do you know where Cat is?"

"Training room. You can meet the other recruits." With that Jade wondered to the bathroom, retracting her claw.

 

As Jade exited the bathroom a faint scent interrupted her thoughts about getting her own adamantium claws. She could smell Cat and someone else but something was blocking the scent. Still confused about her sense of smell and her possibility of improving herself, the Goth followed the scent to a room near the main hallway. As she passed one of the doors she saw her and Tori's belongings on the bed. So, Cat must be in her room. The door was partway opened so she peered inside and had to restrain herself from making a noise. Cat was standing in the room, with her arms around a certain ninja that wasn’t her husband. It was quite obvious that Cat was having an affair with Andre at this point. She knew she had sensed something up with them earlier but just ignored it thinking it was nothing. Without making a sound Jade quietly slipped away and made her way back to the training room.

On the way though she couldn't help but wonder; if Cat was willing to betray her husband like that then who says she wouldn't betray them too? It was then she made up her mind.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Tori had given up waiting for Jade to come back to the training room. She had finished sparring with Beck after Andre and Cat disappeared shortly before Robbie came in. He stayed for a few minutes and talked to them before leaving to try to find his wife. He was a nice man, if a bit weird, but a bunch of people had odd quirks so Tori didn't think much of it.

When it was an hour till midnight and still had seen no sign of Jade the Latina started to worry. Having been waiting in their bedroom she slipped out of the bed and went next door to Cat's room. She lightly knocked on the door and could have sworn she heard a poof before Cat told her to come in. Opening the door and peeking in she saw Cat was under the covers with a book in her lap.

"Cat? Have you seen Jade?" Tori questioned.

"Jade? No. Not since she left for the bathroom earlier. You can't find her?" Cat frowned in confusion.

Tori shook her head, "I haven't seen her since but I didn't think it was right to search your house without your permission."

"Oh, I would've understood. But I'll help you search for her."

"Thanks."

With that the two women searched everywhere for the missing girl, but she didn't seem to be in any room they checked. She wasn't in the kitchen, game room, the inside pool room, and still wasn't in the training room. When the clock it midnight they had searched every room in the house. Except…

"The only room we haven't looked in is Robbie's lab. But I don't understand why she would be in there." Cat looked at Tori.

"It won't hurt to look right?" Tori asked.

Cat nodded and lead the Irish-Latina to a door in the room where Tori first saw Robbie working on his gun. There was a number pad in the wall and Cat quickly pushed a number sequence. A hidden door slid open and Cat walked in, gesturing for Tori to follow. The door lead to a hallway, with silver walls and metal flooring that seemed somewhat odd to Tori. The hallway wasn't that long and led into an open room. What the two saw shocked them.

Jade was laying on a table, her arms and legs strapped down with Robbie standing over her. He was sitting a bucket down on the floor, but that drew attention to some blood that was on the table. It didn't help that Jade looked unconscious. Tori stepped forward, eyes red. "What the hell is going on!?"

Robbie jumped at the sudden voice. "Goodness don't do that. You scared the fudge out of me."

"Robbie." Cat's voice was stern and determined. "She asked you a question."

"Huh?" Robbie's eyes widened with realization. "Oh. OH! No, no. I didn't hurt her. Well okay, I kind of did but she knew what she was getting herself into."

Tori let a fireball form in her palm, "I swear to God I will turn you to ash!"

"Relax! She's okay now. See, earlier I offered to coat her claws in adamantium. At the time she was unsure so she thought about it. Not long after she told me she wanted it. This process took longer than I thought, but I finished about half an hour ago. Putting her claws back into her hand seemed to cause to much pain and she blacked out. I don't know when she'll wake up. If you want you can take her back to her room now. But be wary, she might snap when she wakes."

The fire disappeared and Tori walked to the table and picked her kind of girlfriend up, bridal style. "I'll handle her, but just know that if you did hurt her, on purpose, and did anything you weren't supposed to do. I will end you. Even if you are my friends husband." With that Tori carried the unconscious girl out.

Cat stayed and crossed her arms at her husband. "Robbie! What the hell!? I don’t even get you to talk to them when they arrive and now you're experimenting on them?!"

"It wasn't an experiment!" Robbie protested. Cat leveled him with a glare and he sighed, "Well, okay it was kind of but I'm sure it went well. Her claws were bone. They wouldn't be good in a fight. I coated her bone claws with adamantium; the same stuff that coats Wolverine's. She can cut through literally anything now."

"These girls are going to help us take down Ponnie and her gang of misfits!" Cat snapped, storming to the table. "They're nice and interesting and I don't want you to experiment on them. Or anyone for that matter! Jesus Christ Robbie! The poor girl looked like she was going to have a heart attack whfen she couldn't find Jade."

"Okay, I should've told you or someone before hand but she just had this look in her eye. I didn't want to postpone anything."

"Oh, please! You don’t care about her or any of your volunteers. She could have died and you would have said "Oh well!""

Sighing, Robbie took his gloves off, "Come on, Cat. Let's not do this now."

"Do what? Speak the truth?"

With a poof Andre was sitting Indian style on the table between them. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Robbie's doing experiments on my new friends." Cat snapped.

"Robbie?" Andre turned to look at his friend. Andre was a laid back kind of guy, he didn't making any decisions or judgments until he hears every detail and each persons side of the story.

Robbie shook his head, "She agreed to it and all I did was coat her claws in adamantium. She wanted me to do it, I just didn't realize the process would take all day."

"Maybe we should all just go to our, or your, rooms, calm down and sleep. Tomorrow we can work this out."

Cat frowned, "But Andre that girl might not wake up!"

"I told you she'll be fine."

"You don't know that!"

"Ding ding. Rounds over. Come on guys. Let's just cool off. We'll see how she is tomorrow. If she's awake we'll see how she feels. If not then...well we'll go from there."

"And how do I know you won't slip in there and kill her in her sleep? You are a master assassin after all."

"I'm aware that I'm a master assassin. But you are also aware I don't kill anyone that doesn't deserve it and I only go after bad people." Andre snapped, a bit offended.

Cat sighed, "Okay. We'll see what happens tomorrow. But this experimenting has to stop Robbie."

All Robbie said was okay before the two left the room and made their way to their separate bedrooms. Andre shook his head as they left. "I'm not sure how they lasted this long." With a poof he was gone and the lab lights went dark.


	8. Did It Work?

Jade awoke with a groan, but didn't open her eyes yet. There was a slight pain in her hands she couldn't understand. Slowly blue-green eyes blinked opened as she lifted herself up. The light was bright and she had a flash of looking up into a lamp hovering over her hands, her claws exposed. A claw was forcibly pulled out with a tool and there was a loud scream.

Jade blinked and she realized she was sitting in a bedroom, the same one she passed by yesterday. The sunlight filled the room through the open blinds. Shaking her head she stood and looked for a clock. Realizing it was half past four o'clock Jade wondered towards the kitchen. She was having a hard time remembering what happened last night. She recalled training and meeting Robbie, talking to him about something. But what?

 

The kitchen was empty except for Roland. He was putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher but turned when he heard footsteps. "Ah, Miss West. We weren't sure when you'd awake."

"What do you mean?" Jade questioned sitting at the bar.

Roland looked at her, "Don't you remember?" Jade shook her head and Roland continued. "Apparently last night you asked Mr. Shapiro to perform some kind of surgery."

"I did? Wait...he actually did it?"

"Yes. Miss Vega was quite worried."

"Where are they?"

Roland gave her a soft smile, "In due time. I believe you should eat before you do anything else. Do you like pancakes?"

"Uh..yeah." In a moment there was a plate with two pancakes on it. Jade was taken aback slightly, not having anyone cook anything for her since her mother was around. She sat there baffled, "Um...thanks, but I really want to test my claws out."

"I insist you eat something before you do. After you eat I'll inform you of everyone's whereabouts."

Resigned the Goth asked, "You got syrup?"

 

 

A loud groan escaped Tori's lips as her back hit the floor. Slightly dazed she sat up slowly. "In a fight you would've been rushed. You should avoid hitting your head if at all possible."

"This is just training Andre." Tori responded.

"Yeah." Andre nodded. "But what I teach you, you need to do in a real fight. Villains are ruthless and some won't hesitate to take you out in any way possible."

Cat nodded, "He's right. Ponnie has stated she will kill me if she gets the chance and I really don't doubt that."

Robbie was quiet, watching from the sidelines with Cat, though the two didn't have much interaction at all. They weren't even standing close to each other.

"You have powers. You need to learn to use them in battle." Andre told her, holding out a hand.

Taking the help Tori stood up, "What can I do with fire, ice, and flying?"

"Flight in fights gives you an advantage against anyone that’s stuck on the ground." Cat said.

"You'll get better as you learn to be a hero."

The Irish-Latina looked at the assassin, "You think I can be a good hero?"

"For sure. Now come on, let's go again. This time I'll use whatever tricks I got."

Tori nodded and assumed a fighting stance. Andre reached into his belt and pulled out a small silver rod. With the push of a button the rod extended into a bo staff. Getting an idea Tori smirked and formed her own weapon, making an identical copy of the bo staff.

Andre commented, "You're learning." Then took a swing at her. Tori ducked under the weapon and retaliated with a swing of her own. Andre held the staff vertically to block the attack and this started a back and forth of attacking and blocking, which went on for a good minute or so. But Tori caught on and feigned a low sweep with the weapon, then went for an uppercut. Whether she tricked Andre or he let her have it, he took the ice staff to the chin and stumbled back. Tori went after him and this time did go for a sweep. The ice staff shattered on impact, but Andre did hit the ground.

"Yes!" Tori jumped excitedly, proud that she finally got Andre.

"Jade?" Cat questioned.

Tori spun around to see Jade walking in the door. "Jade! You're okay!" Tori smiled, but before she could do anything else Andre trapped her legs between his and the mutant once again hit the floor.

"Don't let yourself get distracted." Andre patted her on the shoulder before jumping up.

 

Jade walked over to them, "You're still training?"

"Been at it for hours." Robbie said.

"How are you feeling?" Tori asked.

"I'm okay. Did it work? Did you fix my claws?"

"They didn't need to be fixed." Tori said.

Robbie, however, nodded. "Yes. Have you tried them yet?"

"No. Roland made me eat first. Wouldn't even tell me where you guys were."

"Well try them." Jade nodded and held out her fists. Tori watched, expecting her claws to pop out. What happened next wasn't what was expected. Jade let out an scream of pain and dropped her hands. Tori, Andre, and Cat all rushed over to her. Tori took her wrists in her hands. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know. I can't get my claws out. I can feel them but they won't.." She tried again but only felt the excruciating pain again.

Tori spun towards Robbie and glared at him. "What the hell did you do?!"

"I did what she asked. I coated her claws with adamantium." Robbie said calmly. "Maybe the process made her hands sore? Or it could take her body time to get used to the adamantium."

"So, I can't use my claws?" Jade questioned.

"I think it'd be best not to try it."

"Damn it!"

Andre patted her shoulder, "Maybe now you'll let me teach you?"

"You should let him, Jade." Cat said. "Ponnie and her gang won't stay quiet for much longer. You still may not be able to use your claws by then."

"Fine." Jade caved. "Where's Oliver?"

"He got a little more beat up then planned. He's resting." Cat said.

"Wimp. Okay, Andre. Let's go."

 

* * *

 

 

Three weeks passed quickly and not much activity happened. Cat did go out as Metal Lass to defeat a few baddies but the trio got left behind. Cat insisted they weren't ready. So Tori and Jade trained with Andre the whole time. Well most of the time, even Beck got involved with the training from time to time.

During the three weeks the group became close to Andre and Cat, Robbie to a lesser degree. Tori and Andre became best friends, while Cat and Jade grew to the same level of friendship. Not that Jade didn't get close to Andre or Tori avoided Cat, they just seemed to click when they talked. Jade would've been jealous of Tori and Andre if she didn't already know about the affair, which she informed Tori of. Tori was shocked about it, but didn't say anything else.

 

When Cat suggested they get costumes to disguise themselves, because more then likely they'd end up on the news, Tori light up like a Christmas tree. Since Andre knew about technology and had smarts, she went to him to ask about making a costume. However, Beck stepped in and offered to make it. It turned out he had a photographic memory and had read every book in the Shapiro-Valentine home, there was no shortage of those. The demigod was actually quite smart.

So, it wasn't that long before Tori had a costume. She had got what she wanted too, down to the last detail. The fabric was made of a tough fabric that would take a lot of damage and have max protection. The main color was white, but there was a silver line going up each arm. It went down the shoulders on both front and back, continued down but then curved when it reached the ribs and met with the line from the other side. On the legs however the silver lines went straight down. The boots and gloves where white, with no fancy designs. She also had a white cowl made. It had a hole in the back so she could let her hair down and not have to worry about fitting her head in a cowl.

Despite the reluctance Tori eventually wore Jade down and she too got a costume. She decided that since everyone would think of her as a Wolverine clone she decided to get inspiration from his X-Men costume. Her outfit was made of the same fabric as Tori's, but there was differences. While Tori's was long sleeve, Jade's top was short sleeve and the main color was, of course, black. There were three marks designed to look like injuries from her claws on her chest and sides, three on each side. Her pants were also black with three claw marks going vertically, though she considered these designs were unneeded. She had black gloves and matching black boots. Her mask was similar to Wolverine's.

Beck didn't give himself a costume oddly. He had Andre and Robbie make him an Asgardian type armor, made of the most durable steels they had, but still lightweight. He also had a cape. When they finished it looked similar to Thor's.

 

With their costumes hanging on the wall Tori grinned. "This is so exciting!"

Laying on her bed, knees bent upwards and a leg draped over the other Jade merely continued to file her nails. "You're really into all this aren't you?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't be?"

"Sane people."

Tori dropped onto the bed next to her, "Turn on the news. I want to see if there's anything about that cure."

Jade flipped on the T.V. and Tori watched intently. The blonde newscaster looked from the right and back to the camera. "Thanks for the weather report, John. It's been two weeks and a girl is still missing. Rachel Barbra Berry reportedly ran out of her house and has yet to come home."

"Wait, Rachel?" Jade sat up and stared intently at the screen. A picture of Rachel was shown in the right hand corner.

"Her fathers say that all the windows in the house suddenly shattered and she ran out of the house, upset and crying. We managed to interview her friends."

The screen flipped to two girls Jade recognized. A short haired blonde and a brunette Latina with a ponytail.

"Rachel's been really worried about her cousin." The blonde said. "She hasn't been since in awhile and her house burned down. I think she went off to find her."

The Latina rolled her eyes, "That's wrong. Rachel's not the kind of person to just run off without telling her parents anything. Something happened to her."

"You're such a pessimist."

"Look, we're worried okay?" The Latina sighed. "We've been looking in the afternoon and we have no clue where she went. Someone has to have seen her somewhere."

Jade jumped to her feet and started to pace the room. Tori looked up at her. "Jade? You okay?"

"What the hell do you think, Tori!? My cousins missing."

"Wait that's your cousin?"

"Yes! I have to go find her."

Tori stood up and grabbed Jade's wrist. "And where are you going to look, Jade? Where do you think she is?"

"I don't know but I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"Okay look. We'll get Robbie to do some looking around okay? If he sees even a girl that looks slightly like her we'll go straight there okay?"

Jade sighed. "Fine."

"Come on.." Tori gently pulled the Goth onto the bed and started to stroke her hair.


	9. A Twist In The Park

 

Another week passed and there was no sign of Rachel. Jade was livid but she did realize that just running out and searching the streets wouldn't get her anywhere. Tori managed to calm her down each time the Goth got upset. Robbie hadn't seen Rachel on any of the street cameras, no one asked if he hacked into the system or not.

With another week passing by another week of training occurred. Andre was teaching the girls even more techniques to suit each ones fighting style. Tori was getting better with using her powers during fights, but Jade still couldn't get her new claws to unsheathe. The pain wasn't as intense, but it was still bad enough to keep her from literally forcing them out and possibly causing serious injury. She wasn't sure and Tori wouldn't let her try.

 

So, Jade laid on her bed filing her nails again. She cursed how often they grew and how sharp they were. The T.V. was off because she knew nothing would be on the news about Rachel.

"Jade?" She looked over to see the redhead peeking in. "What're you doing?"

"What's it look like?."

Cat sat on the edge of the bed. "Where's Tori?"

"She's training with her costume on. Something about getting used to the feeling or some crap." Jade said.

"I think she's enjoying this hero thing a bit much."

"Yep." Cat scratched the back of her head, "So, how are you feeling?"

"Terrible. My cousins missing."

The older girl patted her leg, "I'm sure she's okay. So, how about I ask you something."

Jade gave her a weary look, "I'm not sure I like that idea."

"What's the deal with you and Tori? Are you and her dating?"

Jade frowned, "We um...we'll I'm not sure really."

An eyebrow quirked, "You're not sure?"

"No. We haven't exactly talked about it."

"What do you want it to be?"

"I like her." Jade momentarily stopped filing and looked at the redhead. "A lot. No offense, but I'm not exactly going to take any relationship advice from you."

Cat was taken aback, giving the Goth an odd look, "Why not?"

"Well. To be blunt about it, I know about your affair."

The redheads jaw dropped, "What?"

"Mhm. Next time make sure your door is shut all the way."

"You're not going to tell right?"

"It's not my business." Jade shrugged. "But I don't understand. Why have it at all?"

Cat sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Well, as I told you before, Robbie and I dated in our senior year of high school and through college. We got married right after and a few months after I started to wonder if we just rushed into the marriage. Then he got a job working under Dr. Pym, made my suit for me then got distant. He got fired and started doing freelance work and I just...didn't see him at all. Then I met Andre while I was patrolling one day and things just...heated up."

"Wouldn't the easiest thing to do here is get a divorce?" Jade face palmed.

Cat shook her head, "No. Maybe…I don't know. I don't want to hurt him."

"Sadly life isn't that easy. He'll find out at some point I'm sure. Especially if you pop out a child with dark skin."

"Jade!"

"Just saying."

 

A ringing went off and Cat checked her phone. "Oh no."

"What?"

"Ponnie and her goons are attacking the city. It's obviously a ruse to get me out. Get your suit on Jade. It's time you come with me."

"Are you serious? I can't even use my claws!"

"That's why we've been teaching you to fight without them. You'll do fine, okay? Now hurry up. I'm going to go collect the others and suit up." With that the redhead was up and out of the room.

Jade sighed and looked at her costume, which she hadn't even put on. "Oh great."

 

Ten minutes later Jade and Tori were on the motorcycle and following Metal Lass as she flew through the city. Andre, or to the citizens, Slayer, was teleporting behind them. Beck was out at the time but said he would meet them at the park.

Jade could see the carnage before they got there. Cars were overturned, trees were uprooted, knocked over, and one was impaled in a building. She could see in the air was a suit similar to Metal Lass, but the colors were reversed.

Jade parked the bike a block away, hoping to keep it from getting damaged and she and Tori rushed to the park.

"This is your team?" Ponnie, or the Silver Destroyer, mocked. "Two high school girls and an assassin?"

Beck walked up to stand next to Tori, "And one dashing demigod."

Ponnie landed in between two girls, a blonde and a brunette. On the end was a very familiar boy for Tori.

"Ryder Daniels?"

Ryder cocked an eyebrow, "That voice is familiar...Tori?"

Jade looked over at the Latina. "You know this guy?"

"Unfortunately. I dated him. It was very bad. And my name is Mirror."

"I still think you need a better codename."

"Like X-13 is a popular choice. No ones going to understand it."

Andre shook his head, "Focus you two. The girls over there are Hayley and Tara. Careful with them their mutants, ones telekinetic and the others terrakinesis."

"The hell is that?" Beck questioned.

Hayley grinned, "Let me demonstrate." The girl raised her hand and a huge part of the ground uprooted and floated in the air momentarily before flying towards Beck. Not being able to dodge it in time he was hit in the chest and flew back, crashing onto the sidewalk.

 

 

 

"Was he not paying attention when we were getting briefed about this? So, Ryder must have the charm power." Jade said, only sparing a half glance back at Beck.

Tara looked at him. "Well, your power won't do any good here."

"I don't need it."

Ponnie jumped into the air, hovering just above the others, "Well this is all well and dandy but I want to destroy this girl." With that she charged at Cat, tackling her and flying into a nearby building.

"Ryder, how about you take on your ex?"

"If I must."

"Tara," Hayley grinned, "Let's take on the other three." Tara returned the grin, "Gladly." She flicked her hand and Jade flew through the air and crashed into Beck, who was starting to approach them again. Hayley and Tara walked right by Tori, who found herself quickly defending from Ryder's fists.

 

 

 

The building Metal Lass crashed through happened to be populated. Thankfully no one was hurt by the sudden entrance, and she was quick to grab her nemesis and fly out the other side. She delivered a hard kick to the stomach and Ponnie flew back a few feet.

"What's your damage you psycho?!"

Ponnie fired her hand cannons at the heroine, "You! Why did you get Robbie? You ignored him like the plague for three years!"

"Wait, the whole reason you hate me is because of a boy?" Cat dodged the blaster and retaliated with her own.

Ponnie held up her left arm and a shield extended from the armor, taking the damage for her. "Yes! I'm the one that actually cares about him."

"God, you really are a psycho." Cat charged the girl and caught her with a right hook. Ponnie quickly came back with her own punch and the two traded blows.

 

 

 

Jade jumped over a cinderblock made of the dirt, but couldn't dodge the next one that connected with her chest. As she hit the ground Beck threw out a few clones of himself to throw the girls off. Tara picked up a park bench and slung it towards one of the clones, disrupting the illusion and making it disappear. Jade jumped back to her feet and once again tried to rush Hayley. The villain threw another cinderblock at her and this time Jade side stepped it and managed to tackle the girl down, immediately sending punches. Hayley could barely get her arms up to take some of the damage.

"Back off!" Tara snapped, grabbing Jade with her telekinesis and throwing her off of Hayley and right into a tree.

Beck helped her up, "I don't think we're doing so good."

"Gee, you think?" Jade snapped.

The demigods eyes lit up, "I've got an idea."

 

 

 

Andre usually would be able to take Ryder down without breaking a sweat, but his normal fighting flow was thrown off since he was trying to keep Tori from getting beat. Truth be told she would be fine on her own if he wouldn't keep butting in. Ryder wasn't a master at karate, but he had decent hand to hand techniques and Tori had yet to use any of her powers.

Andre teleported behind Ryder throwing a punch the moment he materialized, but Ryder caught on to the move and countered, grabbing the fist and flipping Andre over his shoulder. Andre teleported before he crashed into Tori, but misjudged his distance and materialized in the perfect spot to crash into a light post.

Tori didn't have time to check on him as Ryder was throwing a flurry of punches at her. She had managed to deflect them so far but she was starting to wear out. Out of desperation fire shot from her palms and Ryder stepped back.

"Whoa! How the hell..?"

"I'm a mutant." Tori smirked and spun around, her foot connecting with Ryder's jaw and he spun out to the ground.

 

 

Tara threw Beck into a nearby light post and he dropped into the bushes. She looked over and once again saw Jade pummeling Hayley. She threw up her hand to throw her off, but her telekinesis wasn't working. Enraged she stormed over and grabbed Jade's shoulder, but her hand went through the girl and she disappeared along with Hayley.

"What the hell?"

Beck appeared in front of her, "You have to love illusions."

"What did you do!?" She took a swing at him but her hand passed through another illusion.

"Oh, nothing. Just tricked you into thinking your friend was in danger. See, I realized that you work better with her. Key to beating you is to separate you." Beck's voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Tara spun around but didn't see anyone.

A tap on her shoulder made her turn around and run right into a fist. She fell with a thunk and Beck grinned. "Worked like a charm."

The illusion faded and Jade walked over dragging an unconscious Hayley with her. "I can't believe that worked."

"I told you I knew what I was doing."

Jade rolled her eyes and tossed the terrakinetic next to her unconscious friend. "Let's leave these two here and check on Tori and Andre."  

 

 

Cat grabbed the fist coming at her face, slung it to the side and drove her own fist into Ponnie's face. Ponnie froze momentarily and Cat went on the assault, throwing punches at her head and stomach. Finally getting some ground, metaphorically, Ponnie shoved her opponent back and shot the flamethrower in her wrist. Unfortunately for her Metal Lass had the same in her suit and easily countered with her own. Scowling Ponnie turned and flew back to the park with Cat on her tail.

 

 

 

Tori froze the ground in front of her causing Ryder to slip and fall. His legs trapped her own and the Latina hit the ground. Ryder tried to capitalize and jump on her but Tori saw it coming and flipped him over using her legs. She got too her feet at the same time Ryder did but he had an advantage. He had pulled a gun out.

"Now what're you gonna do?" Ryder taunted.

Tori didn't get to respond as Jade ran over, but stopped when she saw the gun. "Where the hell did he get that?!"

"I don't know. Have you seen Andre?"

"Beck's making him sit out. His heads busted open. Now, Ryder, drop the gun and fight like a man." Ryder laughed. "I'm a bad guy, remember? I cheat. Now don't make any sudden moves."

Ponnie flew over and barely got to glance at the gun before Cat charged in and tackled her into the ground. Ryder was distracted and looked at the sudden appearances and Tori jumped at him. Seeing something in his peripheral vision Ryder squeezed the trigger. Tori dropped to the ground, a hole in her forehead.

The second she saw the bullet hole in Tori's forehead Jade saw red. Her claws shot out from their place, the adamantium shining in the sun. She jumped at Ryder, who took a shot at her, but Jade barely registered the wound in her shoulder. Jade slashed the gun in half and drove her claws straight into Ryder's chest. She pulled away and let him drop to the ground, knowing he wouldn't get back up.

Cat split her visor as she walked over, having taken care of Ponnie. "Jade, what in the hell did you do?!"

The Goth spun around, ready to snap at the older girl, but a finger twitch made her stop. She retracted her claws and dropped next to the Latina. The bullet was lying on the ground next to her and the wound was slowly healing itself.

"What happened? Jade?" Cat questioned.

"He shot her!"

"But...it looks like she's healing. She doesn't have that power."

The wound was fully closed and Jade could see the slight rise and fall of Tori's chest. "Tori?"

After a few moments the Latina's eyes blinked open. "J-Jade? What just happened?"

Jade smiled and ignored her question, instead pressing her lips to the other girls. Tori was shocked but quickly fell into the rhythm.

 

"Well, this didn't go anything like I planned." A voice said.

The girls turned to see Robbie walking up to them, coming from deeper in the park. He had a blaster in his hand. "What're you talking about?" Cat questioned. "Wait, how did you even get here?"

"You think these idiots got together by themselves?"

"Are you saying..?" Cat trailed off.

"Yes, my dear wife. I brought them together."

"Why?!"

"Why? Because I get no respect that’s why!" Robbie snapped. "That bastard Pym fired me, his best assistant. And you've been cheating on me for years."

"How did you know?"

"Next time you decide to have an affair, you should remember about the security cameras in the house."

"Oh, God."

"But now Jade's killed one of my team members."

Tori's eyes widened and she looked at Jade. "You killed him?"

"He shot you! I just lost it." Jade said defensively.

"Oh, don't worry. I have a replacement. You know her Jade."

"What?" Jade questioned. Robbie ignored her and looked behind him, gesturing for someone to approach.

Jade's mouth dropped when she saw the person, "Rachel?"


	10. Ding Dong

"Rachel?"

Standing next to Robbie was indeed Rachel Berry. She was in a normal long sleeve shirt and blue jeans, which in itself was weird because Jade knew her cousin to always wearing skirts and argyle sweaters. But what was more intriguing was the box attached to her neck. It was a box that had a black strap that kept it on her neck. The front of the box looked like a speaker with many holes in it, the back pressed firmly against Rachel's neck.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" Jade jumped up, her claws popping out.

"I didn't do anything. I just found her on the street. Had to give her this voice box here." Robbie tapped the box around her neck.

"What do you mean?"

Robbie grinned, stepping behind Rachel. "Rachel. Please demonstrate." Wordlessly Rachel reached back and undid the strap, slipping the voice box off and putting it in Robbie's waiting hand, then she screamed. The girls cried out and quickly put their hands over their ears. After a moment the scream died down and the three heroines slowly pulled their hands away from ears.

Robbie looked at Jade, "Your dear cousin is a mutant too. Have you ever heard of the X-Man known as Banshee?"

Jade shook her head and Tori rolled her eyes, "He had sonic screams or something like that. I'm not sure how it worked."

"Well, Rachel has similar powers to his. Except, she can't even talk without blowing out her own windows. But I made this synthesizer for her so I don't feel like I'm talking to a wall."

"What'd you do to her?" Jade asked again. "You did something to her."

"Me? I didn't do anything at all." Robbie smirked.

"Liar!"

"Let me say this: the battle has just begun and you aren't going to win. I'm going to make you suffer. Rachel, take them out."

Rachel nodded and screamed, this time in a lower pitch that felt like a kick to Jade's chest. She and Tori dropped to the ground. Cat was somewhat protected by her armor but the processors shut down and she dropped to her knees as the scream hit her. She looked up to see Robbie standing over her, with his team flanking him, Ponnie right beside him with her visor up.

"You can have the house. Enjoy it while you can." Robbie grinned, then turned to kiss Ponnie. When they pulled back Ponnie gave the redhead a smirk before kicking her to the ground.

 

Beck and Andre made their way to the girls as soon as they heard the banshee scream, but Andre was suffering from a concussion and they were forced to take their time. They arrived just in time to see what was left of Robbie's team drive off.

The girls were barely sitting up when the guys made it over. Andre helped Cat up while Beck assisted Tori and Jade.

"What the hell just happened?" Beck asked.

"Robbie turned on us, Jade killed Ryder, oh and we got our asses kicked." Tori said.

Andre looked Cat over, "You okay?"

"Fine." Cat dismissed him.

"What're we going to do?" Andre asked.

"I'm going to find him, beat the snot out of his skinny ass, and get my cousin back." Jade said.

Tori sighed, "We don't even know where he went."

"I don't care!"

"Jade, calm down. Breath okay? We'll get her we just need some time. We don't know where they went or what they're planning."

"But she's-"

"She's family. I know. But you can't just follow your gut on this we need a plan."

Jade sighed, "Fine.."

"Let's go back to the house."

 

* * *

 

When they arrived back at Cat's place Roland had the displeasure of giving Cat the papers her husband left behind. She had mixed feelings about the divorce papers, but he had agreed to give her the house and all of her cars. He took what was his and there wasn’t a trace of Robbie Shapiro in the house. She signed them, of course, and the divorce was final not long after. He must have rushed the paperwork or he had been planning this for awhile, though it could have been both.

Jade on the other hand was quite pissed. The following week she spent most of her time in the training room, it wasn't that odd to find her sleeping on the floor. Tori was doing all she could to try to cheer up the Goth but it wasn't working that well. She could see Jade was becoming distant again and she didn't like it.

The others assumed that since Cat wasn't married anymore that she and Andre would become official, but it seemed as though their relationship was going to an end. Andre had mentioned something about how the sneaking around made the relationship more interesting. Cat wouldn't even talk about either relationship if you mentioned it to her. Therefore Andre made himself scarce and Cat seemed depressed.

Beck and Tori realized that their unnamed teem was unraveling. Though talking to the others didn't seem to help and no one was sure if they'd have time to work through their issues before Robbie and his team made another appearance. Even though they had a few failed attempts Tori wasn't going to give up on her friends yet. When she saw Andre in the kitchen she quickly cornered him.

 

"Oh, hey chicka." He said.

"Andre, let's have a little chat. Just you and me." Tori said, sitting on the bar.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm not getting out of this am I?"

"Not a chance."

Andre nodded and leaned against the bar. "What's up?"

"What's up with you and Cat lately? Shouldn't you be happy you can be with her?"

"Tori, come on-"

"No! Andre, you're not getting out of this. Talk to me."

Andre sighed, "I told you guys already."

"I don't believe that you were just sneaking around with her. There's more to it than that."

"Look, I didn't think they'd ever split. I thought they'd just work through their differences and Cat would call it off eventually."

"So, it was just sex?"

"I don't know. Cat's a great girl but I just can't see myself like marrying her and all that. Or anyone for that matter."

Tori shrugged, "Why not?"

"Well 1)I'm not the marrying type and 2) I really don't think she wants to get into that stuff right now. And she's not in the mood to work it out with me right now."

"Maybe it'd help her."

"I tried talking to her. She called it off. I think she really just needs some time."

"Or you just don’t want to try and work it out."

"Whether or not we start something or we don’t I'll still be her friend. I have been for awhile. Just give her a few more days and if she's still upset we'll go talk to her together okay?"

Tori nodded, seeing it was the best she could get right now. "Okay."

"You should really talk to your girl."

"She's not my girl...yet. But I've tried."

"You should try again." They heard the doorbell ring far off but didn't pay it any mind.

"I will. At some point. I just don't know what to say to her."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile Cat had gone to answer the door as she had given Roland some time off. He was reluctant but he did as she asked. She didn't particularly want visitors right now but it could've been Beck, he tends to forget the key she gave him. He's the one that stupidly locks it when he leaves anyway.

Cat opened the door and was surprised at what she saw. There was a girl at her door in a black outfit. Her eyeliner, eye shadow and lipstick were black, her cut off tank top and jeans were black, and she also had on gloves and boots, both black. She had black hair and very familiar blue-green eyes.

"Can I help you?" Cat questioned.

"Hello, my name is Laura Kinney. I am from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning."

"Um. What does this have to do with me?"

"It is not you I wish to speak to. I have reason to believe that Jadelynn Lucille West is here with you. It was also brought to my attention you have a Victoria Marie Vega here as well. I should speak with her as well."

"And who exactly sent you?"

"Logan. But you would probably know him better as Wolverine."


	11. Extended Family

The punching bag hit the ground with a loud thud followed by a snapped chain. Jade growled and moved on to the next bag. She was running out of targets there were only two left, three if you included Beck.

Oddly though he was not the one she wanted to hit. She really wanted to beat the snot out of Robbie, but she couldn't even begin to look for him. She could barely tell some people apart from others by their scent and with no one to train her on it.

The only good thing to come out of that fight was her new claws. The adamantium was amazing, nothing stood a chance. She had torn up a few of the training dummies already getting used to the new feeling. Her hands were slightly heavier now, but only just.

As her knuckles smacked against the bag a familiar scent caught her attention: Tori was nearby. Probably to try to calm her down again. Jade didn't mean to ignore the Latina and appreciated her efforts but she was just to worried her cousin. However, what really caught her attention was the other scents; one she recognized as Cat but there was a new scent in the air. Someone she didn't know.

Before she could question Beck, who was sitting on a bench and watching her after she almost broke his arm while sparring, the girls walked in. Behind Tori and Cat was a girl who looked like a Goth. An all black ensemble, similar to Jade's own style. "Jade. We need to talk to you." Cat said.

"Look, kitten, I see you're new friend but unless she can help me find Rachel I don't care." Jade said, turning back to the bag.

"Jade, I really must speak to you." The girl said.

"Can you help me find my cousin or not?"

"Possibly. Though I need to discuss something else with you before I inquire about the situation."

Jade huffed but turned from the bag. "Okay. Talk."

"My name is Laura and I come from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning."

The name sounded familiar to Jade, "Wait...don't you mean Xavier's School?"

Laura shook her head, "Professor Xavier is dead. Logan is the headmaster now and he changed the name. May I continue?" Jade nodded looking sheepish as Laura continued. "Logan has seen you fight thanks to a street camera. You have adamantium claws now? Before you did not have adamantium coating."

"Someone coated them in adamantium for me."

Laura nodded and turned to Tori. "He has seen you too. You are a powerful mutant. He wants you both to come to the school."

"What?" Tori and Jade rang out simultaneously, one in gleeful surprise and one in confused shock.

"You both need training to fully master your powers. Logan believes he can help you."

"And what do you believe?" Jade questioned. "Judging from how you reacted a moment ago I believe you will not even consider this until you find your cousin. I believe that is a Weapon X dog tag around your neck." Laura took a step closer to inspect the dog tag. They were an arms length apart. "X-13? Wait, that's not possible! How do you even have bone claws to begin with? The only mutant to have them are Wolverine and myself."

Jade sighed. "I'm a clone okay? My mother is Prudence West and she worked to clone Wolverine. She wanted a child so she offered to carry me, then left the company."

"No. Sarah would have told me about that."

Tori walked over to them, "Maybe she didn't because she truly thought it didn’t take and Jade didn't exist." Though she had no idea who Sarah was.

Laura looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps."

"You're right though. I'm not going until I find my cousin."

Laura nodded. "I will assist you."

Jade raised an eyebrow, "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch."

"Bull."

"I'm curious about you." With a glance at Tori she added. "Both of you."

"We're not a science experiment." Tori said.

"I never said you were."

Jade nodded. "Okay. Maybe Cat will let you stay here until we find her."

"I suppose she can have one of the empty rooms." Cat said.

"While I'm here I will help you train." Laura said.

"Help me train? I don't need-"

Laura cut her off, "I am trained in martial arts. I can show you how to incorporate your claws into your attacks."

"Fine."

"We will start tomorrow, six am." Laura said, spinning on the spot and walking away. She stopped at the door and looked back at Jade, "Do not be late. Sis." With a smirk she walked out.

"Did...she just..?"

"Well. If you both have Wolverine's DNA I suppose he could be your "father." If that's how it is with clones your sisters."

"No. We're not."


	12. Talks

A Month Later

 

Tori collapsed on her bed, taking the time to finally relax. After an intense training session and a long shower she was beat. Laura really did not take it easy when training. She made the Latina block every attack she could dish out and did not go easy on her. Laura's claws tore through ice walls and fire didn't phase her. She did find flying worked against Laura, for the first few minutes at least.

Laura had been more help to Jade in pure honesty. Even though Jade didn't have claws on her feet she could still use most of the techniques with a bit of adjusting. Though they didn't bond at all. Tori was surprised that Laura was the one attempting to get to know Jade, even if Tori could tell she was hesitant to do so.

But overall they were all getting better and were even starting to work better as a team. They still didn't have a name for the team but that didn't matter. They didn't fight anyone but Robbie and his goons it seemed. They had a few run ins with the group but they weren't able to keep them down and sent to prison. To make matters worse, for Jade at least, Rachel still hadn't said anything to Jade at all. Unless you count the banshee screams.

Robbie continued to "steal" ideas from other heroes and copied a few suits for his team. Whether it was their idea or his Robbie fixed up Hayley and Tara with suits that were similar to Emma Frost's, a cape, an armored bra and long pants with knee high boots. He made improvements to Ponnie's suit so now she was up to par with Cat. For Rachel, Robbie took a page from the X-Men's book and put her in a suit designed like Banshee's. He even gave her the wings on the back so using her supersonic scream she could fly.

Laura had not joined them in fighting Robbie yet. They wanted to keep her a surprise. Robbie was planning something, but no one exactly knew what it was yet.

 

A knock on the door broke her from her thoughts. "It's open."

Laura walked in and shut the door behind her. "I need to talk to you."

"You're not going to flirt with me are you?" Tori questioned. "Or make me do more training?"

Laura rolled her eyes, "I'm already torn between two of my friends I don't need a third."

"Sorry poor joke I guess. What's up?"

Laura walked over to the bed and stood next to it as Tori sat up. "Jade hates me."

"She doesn't hate you." Tori interjected quickly. "She just..she lost a lot of her family recently and she's probably scared to let anymore in."

"I've lost family too. I'm not good with other people and emotions. Pixie keeps telling me I need to work on this. If I have a sister then I want to get to know her. I was hoping you could tell me what to do, being her girlfriend and all."

Tori blushed as she stuttered, "I-uh I'm not her girlfriend."

Laura looked confused at that, "You're not? But you're always looking at each other and the other day you were making out."

"I know..we just...haven't talked about it."

"You can still help me though right?"

Tori sighed, "I don't know. Jade's...she's not a talker. She doesn't talk about how she feels. You should probably just give her some time. Don't give up either. I think she wants to know her family too, she just doesn't want to lose anyone else. Maybe it's why she won't talk to me about us."

Laura nodded. "I think I understand. There's also something you should know. I'm not sure how to bring it up with Jade but there is something strange about her claws."

"What do you mean?" Tori asked curiously.

"Well." Laura paused for a moment. "I've been stabbed by adamantium claws before. Wolverine doesn't go easy on anyone when he trains them and his daughter is no exception. Daken made me fight to the death with

him. I don't hold back with Jade because the only thing that can stop her healing factor is the Muramasa blade. We stab each other and her claws do not feel like adamantium." "You're saying Jade's claws aren't coated in adamantium."

"I don't think so, no. However, it isn't a normal metal because I've tested this. She can cut through everything I put in front of her."

"It doesn't sound like it's much of a problem then." Tori said.

"Robbie told you all he coated them in adamantium. That's a lie and since he is your bad guy he may have done something dangerous."

"You have a point there…"

"There's a lot of drama here." Laura said.

"Indeed. I guess we can check out Robbie's old lab but I doubt his equipment is in there. He probably took it all with him."

"I'll go look. Jade's on her way here. You should talk to her."

"How do you know that?"

Laura tapped her nose. "I can track people. Tell her how you feel. Good luck." With that Laura slipped out the door.

 

Not a minute later Jade walked in drenched in sweat and already stripping. Tori's eyes widened, "Jade, what are you doing?"

Jade threw her shirt in the corner, "Tori? Oh didn't know you were in here. I'm heading to the shower."

"You're getting naked though."

Jade chuckled, "Not like you haven't seen it before."

Tori blushed again. "Speaking of that...can we talk?"

"Can you wait till I shower?"

"I can talk while you shower."

Jade shrugged as she headed into the bathroom. "Okay then."

As Jade turned the water on and got a towel and a change of clothes Tori leaned sat on the counter. The Goth finished stripping and jumped in the shower. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk about us." Tori said slowly.

"Okay.." Jade said unsure.

"What are we?"

"I.." Jade paused lathering up her hair. "I'm not sure." She continued washing her hair.

Tori frowned. "What do you want?"

"I don't know. Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"I've always wanted to talk about this but something's always coming up. I'm just going to come out with it Jade. I love you."

Jade gasped. "You...what?"

"I love you. I want to be your girlfriend." It really bothered Tori that she couldn't see Jade's reaction.

She could hear the hesitation in Jade's voice though. "I don't know about that Tori. I mean I saw you get shot last month that scared the hell out of me. I thought you were gone. If we're going to be going around being heroes then bad things could happen to you or me and I don't want that to happen."

"Then we'll just make sure it doesn't happen okay? I know it's dangerous but even if we weren't doing this it would still be dangerous. You never know what life will do to you. Just give us a chance. Please?"

There was silence for minutes and it was making the Latina nervous. The shower stopped running and Jade stepped out, wrapping the towel around herself. She took a breath then looked at Tori. "Okay. We'll give it a chance."

Tori's smile covered her face. "Really?"

Jade nodded. "Yes."

Tori squealed happily and kissed her. Jade happily returned it.

 

* * *

 

 

Cat sat on her patio chair looking across the backyard. It seemed like too much room for just one person really. The pool and hot tub took up some room but there was still a lot of empty space. It's not like she couldn't afford to live here anymore, she had her own money and the house was paid off to start with. She wasn't in financial danger.

"Hey, Cat." She looked over her shoulder to see Andre walking towards her. "Can we talk?"

"What about?"

Andre took the seat next to her. "Us. You. Ever since the divorce you've been distant."

"Look, Andre, I just needed some time to think about things." Cat sighed softly.

"I'm not upset if that's what you're thinking."

Cat blinked in surprise. "You're not?"

Andre shook his head. "Nah. I didn't think we'd be the marrying type. I thought you and Robbie would've worked it out honestly."

"I don't think that would've happened with or without you. It was just a bad relationship."

Andre nodded. "But your still taking it hard."

"Well....he did turn out to be evil and it was kind of my fault."

"Now that's not true." Andre shook his head, rubbing her shoulder. "He was like that to start with. Remember all the volunteer's that died while he was experimenting? A good man wouldn't not care about that."

"But that doesn't mean he would've tried to take over the world."

Andre raised an eyebrow. "He's trying to take over the world?"

"I think so. I've been thinking...what if he's controlling Rachel somehow?"

"How would he do that?"

"Maybe that speaker that's on her neck? I don't know."

"Right now there's no proof he's trying to take over the world. But he is planning something. But we'll stop him and save Rachel and the city. Right?"

Cat nodded. "Right."

"So, are we good?"

"Yeah. We're good."

"Good. I didn't like not talking to you." Cat smiled. "Lay out here with me. We can talk."

"Sounds good to me." Andre grinned, getting comfortable.


	13. Mission Half Success

"We've got trouble." Cat announced as she marched into the training room, where everyone else was. It'd been much nicer since everyone had cleared the air. Jade was even starting to tolerate Beck.

"What's going on?" Tori questioned.

Cat pulled her helmet on, the last of her armor, "Robbie sent his goons to some electronic company. All I know about the place is that they build electronics. Not sure what's going on but we got to stop them."

Laura stepped forward, "Do you want me to stay back still?"

"Yes. He's not in the area so it must be a get in, get out type deal."

Laura frowned, visibly unhappy with this information. "Fine."

Jade patted her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get to rip something other then a bag to shreds soon."

Laura gave her a smile. "Go."

 

 

* * *

 

Jade flew down the interstate on her motorcycle with Tori's arms wrapped around her waist. They had done this many times before but this was the first time since their talk. Even though they were on their way to deal with some baddies, it was still kind of nice.

"So, I see you and Laura are talking more." Tori said in the Goth's ear.

Jade nodded slightly as Tori tilted her head closer to hear. "Well...yeah. After our talk I decided maybe I should let her in too."

"That's good. Did you two talk? Like seriously talk?"

"Uh...no. We just talk like two people, we haven't bonded or anything."

"She seemed to brighten when you touched her shoulder. Maybe you’re the one who hasn't bonded."

"Tori. Stop being my own personal Dr. Phil. Look, Tori. I need your help."

"With what?" Tori asked concerned.

"Rachel. Help me try and talk her out of this thing. This isn't her. He's done something to her."

"I did notice something about her.."

"What?" Jade glanced at her.

"Every time she starts to use her powers Robbie jumps behind her. I think that's a safe spot."

Jade frowned, "So, if you stand behind her you won't be affected by her scream?"

Tori nodded, "Exactly."

"Let's test that theory."

 

 

Jade stopped the bike in front of the building. It looked about twenty stories tall but didn't look like anything special. Except the front sign was broken and there was a hole in the wall. Metal Lass flew through the hole with Jade, Tori, and Beck behind her. Inside the personnel were laying on the floor. Metal Lass checked for a pulse and cursed when she didn't find one.

"Okay. They're here somewhere."

"Got that right." Silver Destroyer slammed into Metal Lass, crashing them through the wall.

Beck shook his head, "Think we found them."

"Oh look it's the pretty boy." Tara said, as she walked through one of the connecting doors.

"Where's your little friend?" Beck sneered.

Tara chuckled. "Hayley's busy with other things." Behind Tara, Rachel silently slid up behind her.

"Beck, you take Tara. Replica and I will take Rachel." Jade said, using Tori's new code name.

"No problem."

Tara waved her hand and Beck flew into a nearby desk. "Problem."

 

 

Rachel walked over to Jade slowly. "Rachel, don't do this."

The diva said nothing as she took off the box around her neck. Jade sighed and took a fighting stance, her claws remained sheathed however.

"No offensive powers then," Replica said, moving next to Jade

"Thanks.."

 

 

Metal Lass shot a laser at Destroyer, who countered with her own. "Poor little Valentine, all alone in that big house of hers."

"I'm not alone. I have friends unlike you!" Lass snapped, a small canon appearing from her shoulder and shooting a missile. It hit dead on causing a small explosion and sending Destroyer back.

She fired her own missile in retaliation, "I have a husband unlike you!" Caught off guard, Lass took the explosion to the chest and was flung out the window, shattering the glass.

 

 

"Aren't you the son of Loki?" Tara slammed Beck into the wall again. "You should be on our side. Follow in Daddies footsteps."

"Not in a million years." Beck smirked as he vanished. Tara growled realizing the trick and turned right into Beck's fist. Stumbling the blonde glared at him. Before she could wave her hand again Beck grabbed her wrists and tied them together. "Got you."

"That's what you think." A voice behind him said. Beck turned around and took a hammer to the face. He dropped to the ground seeing black.

 

 

Since Jade wasn't trying to hurt her cousin she was taking on the defensive. She ducked under another swing while Replica was watching nearby. She was slipping behind Rachel and Jade smirked. "What's wrong Rachel? Can't use your power?" Rachel's eyes narrowed and she let out a loud scream. It felt like a kick in the gut to Jade and she dropped to her knees, clutching her stomach.

Rachel smirked and moved to finish her off. Replica popped up behind her. "Found your weakness." She grabbed the nerve in Rachel's shoulder and she dropped to the floor unconscious.

"Got her."

"I'm going to get her out of here." Jade said, coughing as she wearily stood up. "You go see if someone else is around."

"Too late." Replica spun around to see a girl. She was a gorgeous girl with entrancing blue eyes. She had shoulder length blonde hair and was wearing a tight black suit. She smirked and help up a thumb drive. "Got what we came for. Now let me get our little banshee and I'll just be going."

"Who the hell are you?" Jade let her claws out with a snikt.

"Rosalie Hale. But you can call me Artic Rose. Now. Get out of my way. " As she spoke her body was slowly covered in ice.

"Not going to happen." Jade lunged, swinging her claws.

Rose nimbly dodged her attacks and backhanded her. The blow of the ice momentarily stunned Jade.

Replica quickly put her hand to her ear. "Andre, now!"

In a puff of smoke the assassin appeared. He looked to Replica, who pointed at Rachel. Getting the hint he took her wrist.

"No!" Rose snapped, creating ice daggers in her hands and throwing them. The projectiles sailed through a puff of smoke.

"Now. Give us the thumb drive and we'll only give you life in prison." Jade smirked, jumping to her feet.

Tara ran in and waved her hands, throwing the two heroes to opposite walls. "Let's bail. Where's Rachel?"

"They got her. Forget her we need to bail. Where's Fawn?"

Rose questioned. "Fighting Metal Lass outside." The duo ran out of the building.

"They're getting away!" Jade shouted, standing up.

Replica got to her feet and grabbed her wrist. "Let them go. We got Rachel. Let’s worry about her right now."

Jade nodded. "Your right. Let's go find Beck and Cat."


	14. What's Wrong With Her?

When the team made it back to Cat's mansion they found Laura waiting for them. She had an irritated look on her face, which reminded Tori of Jade.

"There's a bit of a problem." She said.

"Rachel?" Jade questioned.

Laura nodded. "We've got her in one of the guest rooms, but once she wakes up she can just use her scream to render us useless and possibly escape. I don't think you would appreciate it if we gagged her."

"No. I wouldn't but we may have no choice."

Tori put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, "Maybe we can figure out what's wrong with her before it comes to that."

"Hopefully."

"We thought you would like to look her over, because you’re her family." Laura said. "You would know if something was amiss."

"Take me to her." Laura headed up the stairs, the group following her.

Laura stopped at an open door. "In here."

Jade stepped inside to see her cousin laid across the bed, with her hands tied to the headboard. She gave Laura a look. "Why'd you tie her to the bed?"

"Well, if we don't she could just slip out the window."

"If we had a cell or something to put her in we would have done that." Laura said, looking pointedly at Cat.

The redhead crossed her arms, "This is my house not a prison."

"Yet it's your headquarters." Laura stated.

Jade walked over to her cousin and reached into her pocket retrieving the voice box. She held it up to the others, "Do you think this has something in it?"

"Unlikely because she pulls it off when she screams, but I can run it through the lab. Maybe it's got a serum in it or something like that. Hey, speaking of serums maybe I should run a blood test. See if there's anything odd in her blood stream."

Jade frowned in thought but nodded, "Okay. Do it while she's out."

Tori patted Jade's shoulder, "I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"It'll take a day or so before we get the results." Cat said.

"That's fine. I'll check her over and see if there's anything weird on her. New scars or any electronics attached to her neck or something."

"I'll go get the needle."  

 

 

Jade didn't find a trace of anything suspicious anywhere on Rachel. Now all they had to do was wait for the lab results. Which was easier said than done. When Rachel woke up an hour later she immediately tried to escape. Jade's ears started to bleed before she finally clamped her hands over Rachel's mouth. No matter what she said Rachel wouldn't come around, but after awhile she did stop trying to escape.

By the time night rolled around Jade was disheartened. As a precaution she gave her a sleeping pill to make sure nothing happened during the night before she went to bed with Tori, who had to force her to get some rest. It wasn't a restful sleep for Jade. She was up at four a.m. and was checking in on her cousin. Thankfully she was still out. She sat on the bed next to Rachel and ran a hand through her hair. "Isn't it a bit early for you to be up?" A voice behind Jade made her jump.

The Goth turned to see Laura leaning against the door frame. "You're one to talk."

Laura shrugged, "I had something to do."

"Calling your boyfriend?"

"Ha. No. Since you're going to be nosey I had to get some food." Laura rolled her eyes.

"Night hungers?"

"Yep. I was also having some flashbacks." Laura's eyes drifted to the floor.

"Flashbacks?"

"Yeah. I didn't tell you did I?"

"Tell me what?" Jade looked at her curiously.

"You must know I'm a clone like you correct?" Jade nodded and Laura went on, "Unlike you, I did not get away. I was trained as an assassin for years. They trained me to be emotionless, but lately...I've been feeling emotions, mostly guilt. Before I felt nothing but now it's haunting. Even the people whose deaths were unintentionally caused by me."

"That isn't your fault. They made you that way you didn't have a choice."

"You realize it could have been you correct?"

"If it were me you wouldn't be here. It may sound selfish but I prefer you here."

Laura gave her a barely there smile. "Thanks. Anyway it just… keeps me up sometimes."

"You wouldn't do that to someone now right?"

"If I had no choice I would have to." Laura crossed her arms.

Jade gave an exasperated sigh. "That's not what I meant and you know it. If someone gave you a target to take out would you do it?"

"No."

"You're not the same person you were then." Jade said, getting up and walking over to her. "You can't do anything about it now. There's no changing the past. You just have to worry about the future."

Laura nodded, "I know. It's not that easy though."

"Hey, your my sister. You're tough. You can get through it."

Laura smiled, "You're right. Again."

"Yeah, the big sister usually is." Jade gave her a playful grin.

"Yeah, yeah. So, how is she?" Laura nodded towards Rachel.

"She's unchanged. Still asleep thankfully."

"No mind control devices on her?" "Not one."

Laura frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure then. Perhaps it's internal?"

"I didn't see any scars."

"Sometimes they don't leave scars. We could get a metal detector. May work."

Jade nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll work on finding one." With that she was gone before Jade could say anything. Jade went back to the bed and sat down. Her hand went back to stroking Rachel's hair.


End file.
